Hyper Reality
by CerapinTech
Summary: A rock with mysterious properties wrecks Donnie's lab, revives the Creep, and causes April to change. Meanwhile a new enemy approaches bent on obtaining unimaginable power. Can the Turtles stop this new force and get April back before she loses herself to a darkness she didn't know existed within?
1. Prologue

**A/N** : New story, more fun. This one goes out to retro mania for dishing out the idea.

* * *

 **Prologue**

"Do you honestly think you can keep the Shard away from me forever, boy?" The monster of a man loomed menacingly.

"Not forever, but long enough." The boy stood defiantly against this monster, clutching the Shard closer, as if that could protect it from this monster. He couldn't let him have it, that would lead only to disaster.

"You fool!" The monster roared in anger, "Do you really think you can stop me?"

"It won't stop you, but it will stall you long enough," the boy said, resigning himself to his fate, "The Light will be the one to find it before anyone else can even touch it."

"Don't be so sure, boy," the monster hissed, "Your so called Light is past her limits. She has no power that can stand up to me."

"That's where you're wrong," the boy said, "The Light shall return as it always does, and in the process she will destroy all that is dark and evil."

"You should keep in mind that there cannot be Light without Dark."

The boy faltered at this. Would Light be able to survive an encounter with this monster? Even at full power? It didn't matter.

"The fate of those involved is of no consequence, as long as the outcome remains the same," the boy said. What was important now was that he keep the Shard away from this monster, no matter the cost.

"Even if your fate is included with those who die?" The monster growled with an amused smile.

The boy didn't answer right away. He looked over the edge where he was precariously perched on and down into the swirling mass of energy and chaos that made up the Hyper Vacuum, the one location in all the universe that connected everything; galaxies, dimensions, time, even souls . . . Where will the Shard ended up? Where would he end up? He could only trust that the Light would guide him to the right time and place, and that he would be in a condition where he could guard it until Light found him.

The boy smiled sadly as images of all he would be leaving behind passed through his mind; his family, his friends . . . his love. He didn't kid himself in thinking that he would return from this endeavour. He would be lucky if he even survived it.

With one last look at the monster looming over him, the boy smirked, "Don't count me out just yet."

The boy jumped off the edge and plummeted towards the Hyper Vacuum, disappearing into its swirling mass of chaos with the Shard in tow.

"No!" The monster yelled, reaching for the boy even though he knew he wouldn't reach him in time. "Not again!" He hadn't thought that the boy would dare enter the Hyper Vacuum. He surely wouldn't survive. It was unlikely that he would even end up in the same reality that the Shard had landed in. But if he knew from past experiences, these brats always found a way to ruin his plans. No, the boy _would_ find the Shard. That was an inevitable fact. Either the Light or the Shard itself will draw the boy towards it. The only question is what state the boy will be in when he finds it.

The monster chuckled to himself, "You fool. You will fail, and lose yourself in the process."

 **O**

The Shard felt itself fall through the Hyper Vacuum and get sucked into the warped chaos and space. It watched as it passed by planets of varying sizes, different times from different civilizations, different lives that seemed to thrive only to be snuffed out in the blink of an eye. The Shard watched as it passed them by and kept falling.

Falling . . . falling . . . falling. . .

Then all was still.

There was no crash, no explosion, no freak meteor that came out of no where. It just appeared, like it was always there. Maybe it was always there. Maybe it was never anywhere else.

The Shard sat where it was, feeling warm as it cuddled in the soft soil, buried deep below the surface of whatever planet it was currently on. And that's where it rested, finally at peace. There was no fighting, no wars, no death. Just silence. For once, it seemed like everything was at peace. And that's the way it stayed for a long, long time.

Or so it seemed.

The Shard knew that the peace would soon end when the boy arrived, like he always would have, no matter where the Shard had ended up. But that peace ended a little sooner than expected.

A shift. The ground shifted, the pressure lessened, and something warmly familiar fell across the surface of the Shard. It was light. And the Shard knew that the light marked the end of the peace.

A hand reached out and wrapped its fingers around it. After a moment of straining and pulling, the Shard felt itself being dislodged from it's warm, peaceful place in the soil. The hand gently passed over its surface, wiping away some of the dirt that clung to its surface.

"What is it?" The Shard heard voice asked.

"I don't know, but it's definitely what was giving off the signal." Another voice?

"Oh oh, can I touch it?" This one sounded overly happy. "Ow!" He cried out as a fourth person hit him.

"Moron," the fourth person said.

"Do you think it's something the Kraang brought with them," the fist voice spoke again.

"I don't know, it's possible," the second voice said, "or it could be something totally new. I've never gotten readings like this before."

"Let's get it back to the lair," the first voice said. "Then we can decide what to do with it."

And so the Shard found itself a new home in this new land on a new planet in a new dimension. Now that the peace has ended, chaos is sure to follow, as it always does. Hopefully the boy had made it here safely and he finds the Shard soon. Otherwise, untold disasters are sure to follow.

* * *

 **A/N** : Well, there's the start at least. The rest will be posted some time in the future, not sure when, but definitely after I've finished the other story I'm writing (which wont be long) . . . hopefully.

Fav, follow, review, and all that stuff

Love me 3 :P


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The homeroom bell rang and the teacher called for attention. After a few minutes, the rowdy teenagers settled down and the day's lesson started.

April O'Neil took out her note book and lazily started taking notes, only half paying attention. It's hard to focus on calculus when your daily concerns involve mutants, aliens and ninjas.

"Whatup, Teach," a teenaged boy sauntered into class fifteen minutes late, carrying a hockey stick over one shoulder, his black hair tied back with a bandana over his forehead. He smiled sweetly to the teacher, revealing a gap where his incisors should have been.

The teacher wasn't impressed with his shenanigans. "Take your seat, Mr. Jones."

Casey Jones made his way to an empty desk at the back of the class room, winking to April who rolled her eyes. Even after an alien invasion and spending months hiding out in an old farmhouse, Casey Jones hadn't changed a bit. For that, April was thankful for, even if he could get annoying at times.

Halfway through that mornings class, another teenager came in. He had shaggy light brown hair, baggy pants, a loose hoody, and a calculating gaze. He looked around the room before handing the teacher a slip of paper.

"We have a new student," the teacher announced, reading the slip, "Jay Cogen, take a seat."

Jay made his way to the only empty seat in the room, right next to Casey Jones, who smiled at him, "Welcome to the home of the Vikings, skater dude," Casey said, noticing the skateboard strapped to the new kid's backpack.

The kid nodded to him, not saying anything. The teacher managed to finish the lecture without further interruptions and assigned questions from the text book. The other kids in the class shuffled their desks around and formed their respective groups as they socialized more than they did math.

Casey looked over at the new guy as he kicked his feet onto his desk and leaned back, "It's Jay right? So, where're you from, Jay?"

The new guy glanced over at him, those piercing eyes analyzing every bit of the rough looking kid in front of him. After a few moments of scrutiny, he replied. "Canada."

"Seriously?" Casey's face lit up, "Well welcome to America dude! Do you play hockey?"

"No," Jay said simply, keeping his sentences short, "Never got into it."

"Never got into it?! It's only the best sport in the entire universe. I thought you were supposed to be from Canada."

"Give the guy a bit of space," April came up to them with her calculus textbook clutched to her chest, "Don't mind Casey, he's a block head."

"That's harsh, Red," Casey said, mocking an expression of hurt.

April pulled up a chair and opened her text book on Casey's desk, after knocking his feet off of it. "I'm April," she turned back to the new guy. "And you've already met Casey."

"Jay," his response was curt and short, like everything else he'd said.

"Alright, Jay," April said, flipping through the book to the correct page, "how're you at calculus?"

 **Oo-oO**

The final bell couldn't ring soon enough. Casey launched out the front doors of the school and jumped down the short flight of stairs onto the sidewalk. April followed after him, waving good bye to the new kid. He just nodded back and started off in the other direction.

"Come on, Red," Casey urged her, "Let's get a move on."

"Coming," April called, and skipped down the stairs. "What do you think it is that they found?"

"Something Kraangy by the sounds of it," Casey replied.

"I hope they're not back already," April frowned at the thought of their alien enemies, "We just got rid of them."

The two teens had received word from their friends down under that they had come across something new the previous night. From what they were told, even the genius of the team couldn't for the life of him come up with what it was supposed to be. That was enough to get the teens curious, and after enduring the rest of the day at school, they were more than ready to head down into the sewers to check out what all the fuss was about.

 **Oo-oO**

The Shard became aware of its surroundings as a soft humming brought it back to the present. A slight vibration accompanied the humming, and the Shard realized that some sort of machinery was nearby. It was simplistic and underdeveloped technology, but by the photosensitive receptors that were clearly present, the Shard could tell it was trying to take measurements; probably trying to determine what sort of radiation it was emitting.

 _Good luck figuring it out with_ that _hunk of junk_ _._ Sigh. _So primitive._

The Shard probed with its consciousness past the machinery and reached out, trying to feel out life forms. There was a large, seemingly intelligent life form rather close to the Shard. Reaching out towards it, the Shard examined its mentality . . . curiosity, intelligence, some frustration, and something else . . . determination. This was an interesting one, but it was incompatible. Not surprising.

The Shard searched through its knowledge bank, looking for what kind of life form this was.

. . . Data Retrieved: No match found. Closest match: 'Testudine', a form of reptile found in various regions of the known universe. Transmission Terminated.

Odd. It had been awhile since the Shard came across something new, but decided to come back to it later.

Moving on, the Shard picked up a few smaller life forms: insects here and there, a large cluster of single celled organisms to one side that the Shard identified as a sort of plant like material, possibly algae. There was another large lifeform, but it was unresponsive, seemingly in some sort of stasis. The Shard didn't even check for compatibility. It wouldn't be useful it wasn't even conscious, but out of curiosity, the Shard searched this life form also.

. . . Data Retrieved: No match found. Closest match; Glumorantus, a large type of multi cellular amoeba, complete with organs and digestive system, found in the Ultransive Solar System. Transmission Terminated.

 _Another unknown? Ultransive System? This is definitely not the Ultransive . . . the atmospheric pressure is wrong._

Another presence almost directly above the Shard caught its attention. This one also seemed to be in a sort of stasis, but it was responsive. There was some sort of brain activity going on, even if it didn't really have a brain. It also seemed to be contained in a sort of small container . . . a jar? Its mentality was rather simplistic; it's only thought was to obtain a substance that would sustain it . . . a type of mutagen?

. . . Data Retrieved: No match found. Closest Matc— Transmission Terminated.

 _For Blarg's sake! How many new things are there!?_

Frustrated, the Shard reached farther and ran right into a wall, literally, since its consciousness could not penetrate solid objects. Tracing the wall around the room, the Shard mapped out the immediate area, taking note of larger pieces of machinery, various chemicals and reagents, more pieces of equipment. But other than the one curious life form, there were no other intelligent life forms present. At least none that were going to do something anytime soon.

Suddenly, a hole appeared in the impassable wall, as what must have been a door opened briefly, admitting a new life form into the room.

"Donnie," the Shard registered the sound as a voice as the new life form spoke. The Shard recognized the voice from the previous night. "Got anything?"

The Shard examined this new life form. It was the same type as the one operating the machinery, an almost-Testudine. A quick scan of his mentality revealed a calm soul, led by devotion and fierce urge to protect. This was a warrior's mind . . . but also incompatible.

"Oh, I got plenty," the first life form replied, apparently answering to 'Donnie'. "Just don't know what to make of it. I've never seen this kind of radiation before. If I didn't know better . . . I would think that it's alive."

 _It?_ The Shard was a little offended by that.

"Alive how?" the Warrior asked.

"It's hard to explain. But these . . . some of these readings almost resemble the electrostatic pulses that occur in the brain, but their occurring as electromagnetic waves."

The Shard was impressed with this 'Donnie' life form, instantly forgetting the 'it' comment. Even with such underdeveloped technology he managed to deduce as much as he had, and he wasn't too far off either. Too bad he wasn't compatible, he would have been an interesting one.

"So, is it Kraang tech?" the Warrior asked.

The Kraang? The Shard recognized the name and searched its knowledge bank again.

. . . Data Retrieved: The Kraang; a species native to Dimension X in the Gamma sector. They seek to conquer and thrive. They have successfully taken over many planets including Sparstales of the Tebunin Galaxy, Yuz-Kan of the Waltnir System, and Lntooren of the Quental Galaxy. The residents of planets the Kraang conquered were altered into beings that could provide manual labour, or in cases where the residents were unable to do so, were destroyed— Transmission Terminated.

The Shard shut off the transmission, recalling the species in question.

 _Ah yes, the Kraang. Nasty little buggers with a thing for blasting stuff and making monsters._ The Shard recalled the stories of when the Kraang went against another species called the Triceratons. That was a bloody war if there ever was one. But in the end, this was all a history lesson from millennia past.

If the Kraang were still active in this time, how far back had the Shard traveled? Pretty far, based on the technology surrounding it. As for _where_ it ended up, if the Kraang were here the obvious destination would be Dimension X, that is if this was before the Kraang ran it into the ground. If it was after . . .

. . . Data Retrieved: After Dimension X became uninhabitable to them, the Kraang created a trans dimensional portal in order to extend their influence even farther. Their advance was stalled when they came across the 'perfect' planet to inhabit, called Earth in the Third Dimension. A difference in the laws of physics rendered their mutagenic agent unstable, and delayed their expansion. The Kraang spent many centuries trying to alter their mutagenic agent so that it could work properly in this new dimension. When closing in on a solution, the Kraang met with more resistant. A group of the planets residents took up arms against the Kraang and fought to protect their planet. Though they were few, the Tur— Transmission Terminated.

 _. . . Earth?_ Was the Shard on this Earth planet?

"I'd hardly call this Kraang tech," the 'Donnie' life form said, drawing the Shard's attention once more, the thought process lapsing only a few seconds. "No, this is something we've never seen before. It-it's like a living crystal, but not like the Kraang Power Cells or the giant Rock people from Dimension X. It's even more alien than the Kraang. This is something totally new."

The Shard heard an erratic noise coming from outside the room and the Warrior life form left to inspect what was happening while the 'Donnie' life form went back to his tinkering, playing with settings on his machine and taking down readings. He noticed that the readings spiked while he wasn't paying attention.

"All this, just from when I was talking to Leo?" the 'Donnie' life form thought out loud. "It's almost like it was listening to what we were saying."

The Shard was impressed again. This 'Donnie' life form was quick on the uptake and had a sharp mind. The Shard tuned into his brain waves as he absorbed the readings and came up with so many possible explanations; many of which were ridiculous, but at the same time, very plausible.

Then the door opened in the impassible wall again and the Warrior returned with two new lifeforms following behind him. These two were different from the others, more fragile but just as strong.

 _Please be something in the system, I'm getting tired of all the unknowns._

. . . Data Retrieved: Match Found. Life forms identified as _Homo sapien sapien_ , local resident of the planet Earth in the Milkey Way Galaxy and commonly referred to as . . . human. Transmission Terminated

The Shard recalled a few humans; interesting life forms, amazing diversity, good minds. So this _was_ the planet Earth. The Shard got over it's excitement at finally being able to identify a life form, and focussed again on their mental capacity.

The first one had a simple, wild mind. It was intrigued by competition, ready for a fight, and seemed to be trying to impress someone. Incompatible. Even if this one were, it was too unpredictable. Pass.

The second human had a strong mind. This one was different from the others. Through a loss of some sort, this mind had gained a determination that it had not seen in a long time, along with a strength that could overcome many things. With a no nonsense logic and understanding, this human was strong in ways that others were not. This human showed potential that very few contained, and if the Shard's hunch was right . . . Compatible.

Yes, this human would do just fine.

 **Oo-oO**

"So what's all the excitement about?" Casey Jones asked as Leonardo led him and April O'Neil into Donatello's laboratory. Casey had a grin on his face that said he hoped whatever it was they found would blow up.

"Sounded like something weird," April inquired, closing the door behind her. She'd been curious ever since she got Donnie's text during school.

"We found it last night," Donatello said smiling a greeting to April from behind work table where he was set up, gesturing to their find. Sitting on top of a round dais-like apparatus was an object that could easily be mistaken for a rock. It was about the size of cantaloupe with yellow streaks running through a light brown surface. Wires connected the dais to Donatello's laptop and a printer that hummed loudly and spat out a continuous string of readings taken from the rock. "One of my scanners picked up some really weird readings and we somehow managed to dig this thing up in the park."

"So what is it? A rock?" Casey asked, leaning in to get a closer look. He obviously didn't see what was so special about some crappy rock.

"More of a crystal," Donatello clarified, noting the small amount of luster and complex molecular structure. "It's not from the Kraang, that's for sure."

"Is it dangerous?" April asked, rounding the table to stand beside Donnie.

. . . _cOmE cLoSeR. . ._

April grimaced as she felt a soft prick in the back of her mind, but ignored it as Donatello started talking again. Just another headache in the making.

"I don't think so. From what I've gathered, the radiation that it's emitting isn't harmful, but I don't know for sure what it's capable of."

"I thought you said you didn't know what kind of radiation it is," Leonardo spoke up. "How do you know it isn't dangerous if you don't know what it is?"

"I don't, that's why I'm still running tests," Donnie said testily. He bent over the dais and adjusted a few of the knobs. "If it was buried for as long as I think it was, then all dangerous forms of radiation should have all been dispelled by now. I really don't think there's any cause for concern."

"Then why are we all here to look at some useless rock?" Casey asked, poking the object in question.

"It's scientific discovery, _Casey,_ " Donnie said, slapping his hand away when the readings spiked again. "And I'm pretty sure this isn't useless. If I'm right, and I usually am, I could probably turn this into a sort of energy source."

"Nice," April said.

. . . _cOmE cLoSeR. . ._

Another prick in the back of her mind made her stop. This wasn't just a head ache, it felt different. . . Another presence? Wait, was this her psychic powers acting up again?

. . . _cOMe cLOSEr. . ._

"Ugh!" April felt it that time. The jab was more painful and she heard the voice along with it. There was something near, something . . .

"April?" Donnie asked, coming up beside her.

"What's wrong, Red?" Casey asked, seeing his friends distress.

. . . _COMe CLOSEr. . ._

Another jab, sending searing pain through her skull.

"Agh!" April gasped through the strain, but she had definitely heard it that time. She whipped her head around to look at the rock. It sat on its dais, unmoving, unchanging. . . but it was defiantly there. Something was in the rock. "It's calling me."

"Calling you?" Leo asked. "What do you mean? Who's calling you?"

"Not who," Donnie realized seeing the radiation readings spike again, "what. The radiation that this thing is emitting must be some sort of psychic pulse. That's why it resembles brain waves. Why didn't I think of it before? April's psychic powers must be tuning into it's wavelength."

. . . _CLOSER!_

"It's so loud," April's legs became wobbly, and she steadied herself on the table, mere feet away from the rock. She eyes locked onto it's yellow tinged pattern, and she could have sworn that she saw something moving around under the top layer. "What are you?" She asked in a small voice and reached out to touch it.

"April, don't!" Donnie warned. But it was too late.

April touched the surface of the mysterious rock, and chaos erupted. A loud crack filled the air, sending a bolt of electricity into everyone clustered around the table. Donnie, Leo and Casey flew backwards as a wave of energy burst from the rock. April stayed glued to the rock amidst the smaller streaks of electricity that flowed from it, attacking any surface that got too close.

The dais it sat on sparked and started to smoke. Timothy's containment unit cracked. Donatello's 'trophy shelf' fractured, sending objects crashing to the floor where the streaks of electricity showed no mercy. The Obturaculum Somniorum's pages were ripped from its' bindings and flew around the air, caught in a vortex. The Creep's jar shattered upon impact, electricity rippling around the semi conscious green ooze that leaked out.

The rock glowed bright under April's touch; a piercing yellow light that erased any and all shadows and darkness from the room. Something snapped, and April's hair fell out of her pony tale, but the strands floated around her face, defying gravity, as the glow creeped up her arm and onto her face in elegant lines. The glow finally settled in her eyes, streaking their usual blue with yellow speckles.

Then all at once, the light receded back into the rock. Gravity seemed to return and April's hair fell around her face once again. The indoor storm halted as fast as it arrived with only the damage to the room as proof that it ever occurred.

April snapped her hand back, and without the connection to the rock, she fell to the floor in a graceful heap.

* * *

 **A/N:** Wow, a lot has happened in this one chapter. A mysterious rock with a consciousness got a hold of April. What did it do? What will happen? Why am I asking these questions? I already know what's gonna happen!

Just a side note, for anyone wondering, Testubiles it the scientific name of the Order that Turtles belong to, just a fun fact you know, if anyone cares, or even bothers to read these things. . . especially when they're long like this one. . . I wonder how much longer I can make it before people decide to just stop reading. Maybe if I—aw screw it, I'm bored.

Keep Reading, Keep Writing, Keep Dreaming.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N:** What up my turtle loving people? It's a good day today, in fact it's a pretty darn good week. You wanna know why? Because it's reading week daug! That's right, a whole week of no classes, staying at home, sitting on my butt and writing fan fiction when I should be studying for classes like they want me to. My goal for this semesters reading week is to have this story finished by the time classes start again! Now let's see if I can achieve this goal. And because of this awesome week, here's a special treat for all you people reading; that's right, 2 that's right **two** chapters in one day. You're welcome.

* * *

Chapter 2

The boy walked down the crowded street, on his way home after a full day of school. While weaving between people and dodging around street vendors, he felt what he knew would one day come. It was time.

The Shard has surfaced and is active once again, and it's his duty to find and protect it with his life. But it was the finding part that was going to cause a bit of trouble.

He wasn't sure exactly how long he had been in this reality; how long he's been away from the war that is still raging far away. After entering the Hyper Vacuum with the Shard, he felt himself falling for a long time. Then all of a sudden, he woke up in bed in an apartment with a family and a normal life. It was as if he'd always been a part of this family. He had memories of playing in the park with friends, eating out at restaurants with his parents, being annoyed by a younger sibling . . . but he also had memories his life before he fell.

His body was so much more fragile than before. Traveling through the Hyper Vacuum had changed him; his once well toned muscles were no where to be found, replaced with the flimsy limbs that are trademarks of all children who spend too much time indoors. At least he can still use his abilities. He can still feel the Shard, still channel its power, can still fight against the Dark. At least as far as he knows. He hasn't been able to test the limits of his abilities in this new _human_ body.

Despite his new life, he still knows who and what he is. He is the Shard's Guardian. He has a job to protect it from those who would covet its power until the Light returned to claim what was hers. It was only a matter of what would happen first; the arrival of the Light, or the chaos that would follow the Shard's revival. Because both were sure to happen, one way or another.

 **Oo-oO**

"April? April!" Donatello shook his friend, who lay unconscious on the ground, Leo and Casey watched with worried expressions.

"Dude, what happened?!" Casey demanded.

"I don't know," Donnie snapped back, "give me a second." He handed April off to Leo, who brought her out into the main room, placing her on the couch in the pit with Casey close behind. She was looking a little pale, even her hair seemed a shade lighter. Wait . . . was that possible?

"What happened?" Raphael exclaimed upon seeing them and Michelangelo emerged from the kitchen to see what the noise was about. They all crowded around April as she lay still on the couch.

"My sons," Splinter appeared from the dojo and took in the scene, "What has happened?"

Leo took a deep breath before recounting the events of the past few minutes. Meanwhile, Donnie was examining what remained of the mystery rock.

"What . . . ?" Donnie studied the printouts of the readings from the rock in the lab. He glanced from the readings to the rock, then back to the readings. Shaking his head, he turned off the machine that was monitoring the rock.

"What is it, Donnie?" Leo asked as Don joined them in the pit carrying the latest readings.

"It's just . . . look here," he pointed to an area of the readouts. It was a line graph with a lot of zigzags that meant nothing to the older brother. "This part here, the readings are relatively consistent. But here," he pointed to where the lines spiked drastically, "the readings went crazy when April touched the thing, and after that," he traced his finger over the flat line that followed, "nothing. No radiation, no readings . . . it's as if whatever made this thing work, just disappeared."

"Like it broke or something?" Leo asked.

"Maybe?" Donnie asked, unsure. "It's hard to make any guesses when I don't even know what the heck the thing _was_ in the first place!"

"So what happened to April?" Casey demanded angrily. Everyone turned to the genius, silently awaiting answers.

"From the looks of it, maybe some sort of short out?" Donnie suggested. "I mean, if it really was emitting some sort of psychic waves, maybe they reacted negatively with April's powers, overwhelmed her and caused her to pass out?"

"Could that make her hair to change colour?" Mikey spoke up.

"What?" Donnie asked. Sure enough, there was a single streak of white mixed in with the fiery red hair. "How is that possible?"

"Add that to the list of mysteries," Leo said. "I'm starting to think that rock is more trouble that its worth."

"Ugh." The boys all looked down at April as she groaned. Her eyes fluttered open, "What happened?"

"April, are you alright?" Donnie asked, pushing the others out of the way to examine her.

"My head hurts a little," April said, pressing her hand to her forehead, "what was that?"

"It looked like you had a negative reaction to the rock," Donnie explained helping her sit up.

"Negative reaction?" April asked sitting up, her loose hair falling around her face.

"If my reasoning is correct, the rock was emitting some sort of psychic waves. They must have reacted with your powers and it overwhelmed you," Donnie repeated his theory.

"Weird," April said.

"Well whatever it was," Casey said, pushing Donnie aside, "it's gone now. Let's not worry about it."

"Casey's right," Leo said. "We've got more pressing concerns right now."

"Like the mess it made in my lab," Donnie muttered, recalling the blades of electricity and the damage they caused.

"More like where it came from, and are there more of them out there," Leo clarified.

"You think there's more of these things?" Casey asked seriously.

"I hope not," April muttered, still holding her head, "I've got a massive headache."

"Now that I know what it was emitting," Donnie mused, "I could probably make a specialized scanner to pick up these sorts of frequencies."

"Alright," Leo said formulating the plan, "tonight we'll do a sweep of the city and make sure there are no more of these rocks—"

"Oo, oo! Call them Shock Rocks!" Mikey cut in.

"—make sure there are no more . . . Shock Rocks," Leo just went along with it, "anywhere else where someone can get hurt."

"What are we supposed to do with them when we find them?" Raphael asked.

"Donnie?" Leo turned to his brother who was deep in thought.

"Well, we'll need to find a safe way to store them until we can figure out how to dispose of them safely. We'd need to find someplace that's not easily accessible. Somewhere where people rarely go," Donnie explained. "Should probably out them in something that would block their radiation, you know, just in case."

"Great," Raph huffed, "and where are we going to find this 'perfect hiding place'?"

"Oh, oh. Dudes, I know just the place!" Mikey's voice rose with excitement.

 **Oo-oO**

"Mu-mu-mu . . . ta-ta-ta. . . gen-gen-gen."

The jar was cracked. The ghostly greeny, blue ooze leaked out.

A psychic pulse woke it up. Electricity gave it energy to move, to change, to _crave_.

"Mu-mu-mu . . . ta-ta-ta . . . gen-gen-gen."

None.

There was none in this room. There used to be some, but it's gone. Gone. Gone. No more left. Wait, there. Through the door. Mutagen blood pumping through the bodies of the ones that created it, the ones that trapped it, the ones that made it sleep.

One thought ran through it's simple mind.

 _Mutagen. Need mutagen._

 **Oo-oO**

"You sure you're feeling alright?" Leo asked April as she stood up and stretched her arms.

"I told you," April insisted, "I feel totally fine, other than a headache that's already going away. Now, I think I'm gonna head home and sleep until next Tuesday."

Leonardo watched April push through the turnstiles with Casey in tow. Casey would make sure she got home safely. But for now, there's bigger things to worry about.

"It's this way dudes," Mikey later called as his brothers followed him through the sewers.

"Mikey, where are we going?" Leo asked. They had been traveling for a good twenty minutes and were currently moving through a section of tunnels that the city's sewer workers didn't even maintain anymore.

"I totally found this awesome place the other week," Mikey explained over his shoulder without breaking his pace. "I was totally out skating around the tunnels when I found the biggest sewer rat, like ever! I tried to catch it, but the little bugger was fast. Then before I knew it, found this place," with a wave of his hand, Mikey stepped aside to let his brothers inspect his awesome hiding place.

Leo was the first in the small storage room built into one of the tunnels for the city workers to use. The room was fitted with a few rusty shelves and a cupboard for cleaning supplies. There wasn't anything particularly special about the cramped room, except for maybe that green puddle in the corner, but nothing that would ensure the security needed in this situation.

"Please tell me you didn't drag us half way through the sewers to show us a cramped storage room," Raph said crossing his arms, eyeing the space critically, clearly not seeing the awesomeness that encompassed the room.

"Allow me," Mikey said, sliding around his skeptical brothers and over to the cupboard clearing his throat. "Ahem, prepare to be amazed at the awesomeness that is Michelangelo."

At his brothers' eye rolls and groaning he flung open the cupboard dramatically and spread his arms out, gesturing to the hole inside the cupboard that lead off into the dark, the false back lying off to one side. Their eye rolls and skepticism was quickly replaced with confusion and curiosity.

Donatello was the first to approach the new door way and shine a small flashlight through the darkness. "It goes in pretty far."

"Why is there a secret passage in the sewers?" Raph wondered aloud.

"Not a clue," Mikey said dismissively, "but it's a great place to hide stuff right?"

"Well let's not just stand here," Raph said, pushing Donnie out of the way, eager to be the first in this newly discovered tunnel. "Let's get a move on!"

 **Oo-oO**

"I wonder what was up with that crazy rock," Cassy said as he walked April back to her apartment. "I mean, it was crazy, it was all 'Zap, zap' and then you were all like glowing and your hair was floating everywhere. It was wicked!"

"Can we please not talk about this," April cringed moodily as her headache flared up again. It'd been like this pretty much since they left the Lair; Cassy going on and on about that stupid rock. The entire thing was starting to get old, and all April wanted to do was go home and sleep off this headache. Hopefully it would be gone in the morning, just in time for another school day. Joy of joys.

"You sure you're alright," Cassy asked, "I mean it was pretty crazy, what with the lightning and the whirlwind, and—"

"I get it!" April exclaimed and stopped walking. "Can we drop it now?"

"Sorry Red," Cassy said defensively. "Just making sure you're alright."

"I'm fine," April snapped, rubbing her temple. "I just wanna go home and get some sleep."

"Alright," Cassy gave in and started walking again, leading the way. There was no more conversation for the rest of the walk.

 **Oo-oO**

The turtles followed the tunnel in the storage cupboard around a turn and found themselves in another room that was larger than the storage space. This one had several shelves stalked with old glass jars filled with various pickled vegetables and some other questionable products. There was a wooden bed with various moth eaten blankets that had slumped to the floor from rot and there wasn't much left of the mattress. A small metal desk was pushed up against one wall with a half used candle knocked over on its side and an almost illegible bound book with an old school pen and ink well sitting beside it.

All in all, it had been awhile since anyone had been here.

"What the heck?" Raph breathed.

"Was someone staying here?" Leo wondered.

"Some sort of bunker?" Donnie hypothesized.

"Cool right," Mikey smiled proudly. Only a ninja of his skill could have found a secret hide out like this. Alright, so maybe that rat had knocked over the false backing in the cupboard, but the guys didn't need to know that.

"What is this place?" Leo asked as he went over to inspect the bed, or what was left of it.

"No one's been here for a while, that's for sure," Raph said eyeing the amount of dust and rotting wood in the place.

"Hey guys," Donnie called from the desk. He had the leather bound notebook carefully opened and was skimming over the contents.

"What do you have Donnie," Leo came up behind him, peering at the ancient curved writing that was smeared and faded from water damage.

"Not much of this is legible," Donnie squinted in the poor lighting, "but from what I can gather, this room has been here since the mid 1800s. Guys, I think this hideout was part of the Underground Railroad."

"The Under-who what?" Raph asked.

"The Underground Railroad," Donnie sighed. "It was a system that existed a long time ago that helped people escape the practiced slavery in America by fleeing into Canada where they could be free."

"Slavery . . ." The word tasted bitter on Leo's tongue.

"Over a hundred years ago," Donnie continued, "coloured people were sold as slaves and forced to work in horrible conditions. But not everyone was okay with the way things were, some people believed that slaves should be free. The Underground Railroad helped slaves escape from their masters and gave them a safe place to hide from the authorities while they traveled north. This room must be one of those safe-houses, or at least what's left of it."

"Slavery sucks man," Mikey pouted. He held a new respect for the room he was standing in. People helping complete strangers because it's the right thing to do; he liked the sound of that.

"Well, now this room is going to be hiding something different," Leo announced. "Donnie, can you set it up here?"

"Yeah," Donatello pulled out a small, light weight, metal box from his satchel that contained what was left of the Shock Rock. Although it didn't seem to be active, it was best to keep it hidden away where it couldn't hurt anyone else. He got to work, building a secret compartment in the secret Underground Railroad safe house that no one had found in over a hundred years.

Yeah, this is a good hiding place.

The room fell silent as Donatello worked to set up security, occasionally asking one of his brothers to help in digging out a new hole in the wall, or angling the flashlight in a certain way. In all, it was boring, and Michelangelo would have none of that.

"Hey guys," he said breaking the silence, "you think any of this food is still edible?" The rows of old glass jars offered little nutritional value, and would probably stink something horrid if they were to be opened or broken.

"I don't think so Mikey," Leo replied, focused on digging out a section of the wall that would act as a safe for their dangerous treasures.

"I don't know bro," Mikey said, passing his flashlight over some of the jars. "Some of it still looks good. Let's see, we've got . . . umm, peas, onions, carrots, there's some pink stuff, and . . . Holy Challupa! Guys! It's the Creep!"

"What!"

"Where?"

"How?"

The reaction was instantaneous and hilarious. His brothers dropped what they were doing and had their weapons out, ready for a fight.

"Haa, ha ha," Mikey laughed holding up a particularly nasty jar of something green that clearly had some sort of fungus growing in it. The thing practically glowed.

"Mikey!" Raph scolded.

"You gotta admit," Mikey said waving the jar around, "it does look like the Creep's jar."

"Mikey put that back before you break it open," Donnie said. "I'm almost done here."

"It does look like the Creep," Leo admitted, inspecting the ancient jar more closely.

"Right! I told you guys this place was awesome," Mikey exclaimed.

 **Oo-oO**

Gone. The mutagen blood was gone. Where is it? Where did it go? Need. Neeeeeed mutagen. Must find it, need mutagen.

"Mu-mu-mu . . . ta-ta-ta . . . gen-gen-gen. . ."

Weak. Too weak to move. Body not fully formed. Wait. Need to wait. Gather strength, gather energy, must prepare.

Need it. It. Mutagen. Blood. Must find it.

Must get . . . tur—tles.


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N:** This is the second chapter I've posted today, one right after the other, just in case anyone was confused. Long live reading week!

* * *

Chapter 3

 _Wrong. Something is wrong._

He can feel it. The shift in the air, a pulse of wind . . . a stab in the back of his mind telling him that chaos is close. Looks like Light isn't going to make it in time. He has to find the Shard before things get out of control . . . if they haven't already.

"Where are you going, young man?" the authoritative voice rang out as he failed to sneak out.

"Just . . . wanted to go to the store, Mom," the boy's excuse was pathetic, he knew.

"Whatever it is, it can wait until tomorrow. It's late, and I don't like you walking around on the streets after dark."

"But, Mom—"

"No buts, you can go tomorrow."

And that was that. He may have once been a great warrior, a Guardian of one of the seven Shards of Light, but here, he was nothing more than a high school boy who had a math test next week. In this life, Mom was the boss and what she says goes.

 _Looks like the search has been put off until tomorrow. I pray that nothing too bad will happen . . . who am I kidding, this is the Shard. I'm so screwed._

 **Oo-oO**

"Geez," Raphael said getting his first good look at the mess in Donnie's lab. "That Shock Rock really did a number on this place."

"All my equipment," Donnie groaned. There were burn marks over various surfaces where the Shock Rock had been set up. The resulting storm caused vials, papers and projects to be flung around the room.

"Come on," Leo sighed, "let's get the clean up over with."

"Mu-mu-mu . . . ta-ta-ta . . . gen-gen-gen."

"Uh guys," Mikey said nervously, drawing his brothers' attention. He was standing over by Donnie's trophy shelf, inspecting something that had fallen. "Heh. Funny thing, but . . . the Creep's jar is, uh, sorta broken."

"That's not funny Mikey," Donnie scolded, still ticked about his earlier Creep joke in the Railroad Bunker.

"Dude, I'm not joking this time," he picked up the jar in question with a pair of tongs and held it up for his brothers to see before delivering the more frightening news, "And it's empty."

"Mu-mu-mu . . . ta-ta-ta . . . gen-gen-gen."

"Oh, come on!" Raph growled as he recognized the hoarse whispering taunt. He drew his weapons and stood defensively in the middle of the room. The others followed his lead, positioning themselves back to back in a circle, searching the shadowed areas of the lab for any sign of their enemy.

"How is it back?" Leo asked, shifting his stance, "I though he was gone for good after we drained all the mutagen from him back at the farm house."

"Actually, even though it was just some goo in a jar, it was still sort of alive. Just in some sort of resting state," Donnie explained. "But the Rock was giving off psychic waves, and the storm it created must have woken it up."

"Well that's just great," Raph said. "Now where is—"

Raphael didn't finish as a vine shot down from the ceiling and curled around his face, acting as a gag. More vines followed, wrapping around his arms and torso before lifting him up off the ground. He kicked and squirmed in protest and managed to lose his grip on his weapons and they clattered to the ground.

"Above!" Leo yelled as he saw his brother being lifted away.

"Raph!" Mikey yelled. Unwinding his kusarigama, he flung the chain, catching Raph's ankle and stopping his ascent while Donnie launched Leo high enough to reach Raph. With swinging blades, Leo cut through the vines holding Raphael and they both came crashing to the ground. The newly severed vines squirmed and wiggled without purpose as they lost their grip on their captive before growing still. A white residue leaked out of the cut appendages, forming puddles that looked suspiciously like barf.

Now weary, Leo eyes the ceiling but he only found empty rafters. White liquid slowly dripping down like blood was the only evidence that anything had ever been up there.

"Where is he!?" Raph demanded, seething. "Imma tear him apart!" He retrieved his sais and twirled them menacingly.

"Mu-mu-mu . . . ta-ta-ta . . . gen-gen-gen . . ."

"There!" Leo yelled and threw a shuriken. It hit its mark and sunk deep into the Creep's forehead. Stepping out from the shadows, the ninjas saw their enemy revived, and he looked just as he had back then. The green foliage that made up his flesh was dotted with small, delicate, white flowers here and there. He had once again donned a pair of overalls, but his face was still exposed. His eyes glowed with their ghostly green light that resembled the mutagen it craved so much.

His normally viney hands were cut short, and still leaking that weird white blood from where Leo had cut. But just as fast as he had cut, the vines grew back. The Creep twisted his face into a deformed smile before charging at the group.

 **Oo-oO**

She had said she wanted to sleep, but sleep just wasn't happening. It may have been the early hour, could be the pounding head ache, or even that she kind of already had a nap earlier after she touched that stupid Rock. Whatever the reason, April couldn't seem to sleep.

It didn't help that she seemed to be mad at almost everything. She snapped at Casey on the way home, ignored her dad when he asked about her day, and locked herself in her room where she lay in bed staring at the ceiling.

 _This isn't doing anything,_ April thought to herself. _Maybe some fresh air will help._

Carefully opening the window, April climbed out on the rickety fire escape and made her way up to the roof. She sat on the edge, watching the passing cars and the people walking on the sidewalk. The wind was soft and blew through her red hair that still fell around her shoulders, free of her usual pony tail. Strands blew into her eyes and April caught a glimpse of white among the red.

Fingering the white patch, her thoughts turned once again to the Rock and the voice that called to her. It sounded to compelling. But now that she tried to remember, she couldn't quite describe how it sounded. Maybe because she wasn't really hearing it with her ears, but with her mind. Was there even really something inside the Rock? Donnie had said that the thing was giving off psychic radiation or something, maybe the rock was just messing with her head.

On the street, a car honked loudly and swerved around a slower moving car, cutting off a truck in the process, and making more noise as the truck driver blared his horn and shook his fist.

The cacophony sliced through April's head, causing the pounding to once again flare up. Accompanying the renewed head ache was her temper. She grimaced and glared at the drivers. The stupid idiots don't even know how to drive down a stupid road without making a big deal. Her head pounded in time with her heart and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the pain that flared with each honking horn. Each beat growing stronger and more painful as her anger continued to build.

When it felt like her head was about to explode, something else did. An electric zap followed by glass shattering brought April's attention back to the road, or more specifically, the street light closest to her position on the roof. The light had broken and sent glass falling down on people walking underneath.

Shouts of alarm drifted up to April as one thought ran through her head, "Did I do that?"

 **Oo-oO**

Sounds of rough housing brought Splinter out of his trance and he sighed in defeat. It never ceased to amaze him how a couple of boys could make so much noise, even when said boys were supposed to be masters of steal and invisibility.

A particularly loud crash brought him to his feet and he left his quarters to investigate the ruckus. Surely it was another water balloon fight, or possibly Raphael chasing Michelangelo once again. Then again, it could be another one of Donatello's creations not working the way it was supposed to.

Seeing as how none of his sons seemed to be in the common room, his gaze fell on the door to Donatello's laboratory and Splinter concluded that it was indeed another one of Donatello's creations. Most likely something to do with the odd object that they had retrieved the other night. The rock had peaked his interest; he had felt some sort of presence deep within its confines, but did not find any ill intent, so he had allowed Donatello to perform his tests.

Although after the incident, he wasn't so sure it was the safest course of action to continue such tests, and he was relieved when his sons agreed to find a safe location to hide the thing.

Gathering his composure, Splinter slid open the laboratory door silently and was caught off guard by what he saw. A green plant like creature in overalls and glowing green eyes was attacking his sons.

His protective instincts kicked in and he dashed forward intercepting a blow that would have struck Michelangelo.

"Sensei!" the orange ninja exclaimed in relief as he scrambled out of the way.

The creature swung an overgrown hand at Splinter, but he dodged and ducked under the next blow. This creature was simple in his movements, but they were powerful. Blocking another blow, he delivered a few jabs to his opponents exposed midsection, hitting major pressure points before grabbing one of its' plant-like appendages and throwing him over his shoulder. The creature screeched as it flew through the air and out of the laboratory through the garage door.

"My sons," Splinter caught his breath, "Is everyone alright?"

"Hai, sensei," Leonardo replied as he rushed out to finish off the enemy.

They followed the trail of white blood out and saw that the Creep had disappeared down the subway tracks.

"He's gone," Leo said.

"What do we do now?" Raph asked, sheathing his sais.

"We go after it," Leo said.

 **Oo-oO**

"Mu-mu-mu . . . ta-ta-ta . . . gen-gen-gen . . ."

Failure. Failed to get it. Turtles too powerful. Need to get mutagen.

A pulse in the air caught the Creep's attention.

Energy. The one that woke it up was near. Need more power, more radiation, to get mutagen. Must find the entity that woke it up, that gave it strength, that will in turn give it the power to drain the turtles of their mutagen.

"Mu-mu-mu . . . ta-ta-ta . . . gen-gen-gen . . ."

Up. The energy is above. Noise. Above is noisy. But above has energy.

The Creep found a ladder and climbed out to the surface.

"En-en-en . . . er-er-er . . . gy-gy-gy. . ."

 **Oo-oO**

A shiver ran down April's spine as the wind blew harsher than before. The street below was dark due to the blown out light, and ominous shadows were cast around the area. April imagined all the monsters that could be lurking around in the shadows and the people they could be terrorizing. The shadows were a mysterious phenomenon, causing people to shy away from the darkness and the unknown horrors that it hid.

Unknown to April, one of these horrors was drawing closer.

A shadow darker than the rest crawled to the surface with glowing green eyes, leaving a trail of white blood from a wound that had yet to grow back.

"En-en-en . . . er-er-er . . . gy-gy-gy . . ."

Farther up. The energy is farther up.

April kept her vigil over the darkened street, trying to calm her angry thoughts and her vicious headache. She tried a breathing technique that Master Splinter taught her to help meditate.

Breathe in . . . absorb the energy from the environment.

Breathe out . . . let go of anger, resentment.

Breathe in . . . feel the tranquility of the Earth as it works in harmony with the universe.

Breathe out . . . rid your mind of all distract—

CRASH.

More honking.

 _So much for tranquility_ , April thought bitterly as her head ache flared up again.

"En-en-en . . . er-er-er . . . gy-gy-gy . . ."

April was instantly on her feet, tessen in hand and peering into the shadows on the other side of the roof. The echoing voice sending shivers over April's skin and she tensed as the monster stepped into dim light.

"The Creep?" April asked incredulously, taking in the glowing eyes, the leafy arms, the tattered overalls.

"En-en-en . . . er-er-er . . . gy-gy-gy . . ." The sound radiated from the Creep, even though his mouth didn't move.

"What happened to mutagen?" April asked.

The Creep growled in response before it struck. Extending a lumpy arm, it grabbed at her.

Ninja training took over and April sprang to one side while throwing her weapon towards the Creep. The tessen sheared through one of the Creep's arms, leaving a deep gash and spilling white blood over the concrete roof.

April's tessen flew back like a boomerang and she caught it with expert precision. The Creep screeched and clutched his arm for a second, before his repair systems kicked in and grass and vines covered up the wound.

"En-en-en . . . er-er-er . . . gy-gy-gy- . . ."

The two faced off, the wind blowing through April's loose hair, the dim light causing the white patch to glow with an unearthly light.

The Creep stood still, but only for a moment. Mutagen glowed bright in his veins as he felt the energy radiating out of this human. It was strengthening him, but it was not enough. He needed more.

He lunged forward again, but April evaded his grasp once again. She slashed at him, connecting and causing more white blood to pool, but the wounds closed up just as fast as the last. The Creep may be slow and predictable, but he was pretty much resistant to any physical attacks.

A stab of pain tore through April's head and she faltered as her headache chose the worst time to act up. The lull was the only opening the Creep needed. His arm stretched out and vines wrapped around April's body, tangling her up and causing her to lose her grip on her weapon. The metal fan clattered to the ground as the Creep drew her closer.

"En-en-en . . . er-er-er . . . gy-gy-gy . . ."

All of a sudden, something deep in the Creep's core started to glow brightly and the ghostly light spread over the roof. April's head pounded as she felt her strength start to drain out of her. She felt herself grow weaker and her struggles lost vigor. Her vision started to dim, but at least her headache was starting to die down.

But at the same time, she felt an anger deep inside that wasn't her own. She was angry that something as mindless as this beast could best her. She was angry that someone of her power could be drained by something so simple. This beast would pay for this. But why was it getting so hard to think?

April's eyes started to flutter and her head started to droop, but in her state of fleeting consciousness, a voice pierced through.

"BOOYAKASHA!"

Vines were slashed and strong arms caught her before she could hit the ground. Taking a deep breath, she felt her strength starting to return and her vision cleared. The arms around her helped her stand on shaky legs and between the pounding beats in her head, she heard Donatello fretting over her.

"April, are you okay?" Looking up, she took in Donnie's worried expression as she leaned on him, unable to quite find her center of balance.

"I'm alright, Donnie," April reassured him. "How is he back?"

"The storm the Shock Rock created when you touched it must have woken it up," Donnie vaguely explained.

"Shock Rock?"

"Watch out!" Donnie pulled her away as Leo came flying over, knocked back by the Creep. That's when April noticed that the others were fighting the Creep. He glowed with a new light, blue light seeping out from under the old overalls. His movements were quicker, his actions more precise. Although the ninjas were able to land many blows, they healed almost instantly.

"How's he so much faster?" Leo asked, picking himself up. "He wasn't this good a few minutes ago."

"He was going on about 'energy'," April said. "Then when he grabbed me, it was like he was draining my strength." Her gut twisted from the memory, and her face twisted into a scowl. The Creep was going to get it now. No one messed with this girl and got away with it.

"Energy? Like life force?" Leo asked.

"If it was only after life force it could have gone after any human," Donnie reasoned. "But the Creep sought out April specifically."

"What does that mean?" April asked, fists clenched.

"Well, psychic radiation emanating from the Shock Rock is what woke it up, so maybe your psychic powers are what drew him to you."

"But I haven't been using my powers," April said. Her thoughts briefly went to the street light that had inexplicably shattered . . . had she used her powers?

"In any case," Leo said, "we need to take this Creep down."

No one objected and they leapt into battle. Mikey and Raph had managed to do absolutely nothing useful while the others were conversing. But that was to be expected when your opponent was a self regenerating plant monster revived by psychic radiation and a craving for mutant turtle life-blood.

And so they danced. A five on one battle of ninjas vs Creep. But despite the overwhelming odds, the Creep held his own, his desire for mutagen overwhelming any sense of fatigue and the energy he'd managed to absorb boosted his speed, strength and healing abilities.

Slashing and stabbing, whacking and smacking, the ninjas fought off the Creep, but made no head way.

"This isn't working," Raph yelled as he ducked under an extended arms and slashed through reaching vines, splattering more white blood. "He just keeps growing back."

"We need a different tactic," Leo said stepping into range and slicing off an appendage and jumping back as it regrew as fast as he cut it off.

"What if we—," Donnie's idea was cut off as a vine wrapped around his arm and dragged him off balance.

"Donnie!" Mikey yelled and lunged forward with his kusarigama blade extended, only to have another vine wrap around his torso. With a small yell of surprise, Mikey was lifted up off the ground as more vines snaked their around his arms, pinning the to his side.

"No!" Leo cried out as the appendages holding his brothers started glowing and the Creep began draining the mutagen he craved so badly.

April stood back out of the Creep's range. She watched the fight with clenched fists, a heaving chest, and a rage like no other burning deep within her mind. A small voice whispered to her to finish the monster, finish them all. Just let go of what little control she had on her anger and let her instincts rip this beast to shreds.

She fought the desire to give in, but when she saw Mikey and Donnie slowly going limp in the Creep's hands, something snapped.

Her hands unclenched, the air became thick, the wind shifted. Her head pounded like never before and her vision goes white.

As Leo and Raph fought to free their brothers who were now only barely hanging on to consciousness when a sixth sense made Leo tackle Raph and roll out of the way.

"What the heck!" Raph exclaimed, pushing Leo off. But before he could get on his feet again, a blinding yellow light flashed, a pulse of energy sped across the roof, and the Creep took the full force of the attack.

Squealing with rage and fear, the Creep dropped the two semi-conscious turtles as his glowing core seemed to leak out. Balls of light and energy leaked out of exposed veins and faded off into the night. White blood poured out in rivers as the Creep fell to the ground and disintegrated into a glowing green puddle.

"What was that?!" Raph said in dismay.

"April?" Leo murmured.

Their friend was standing at the other end of the roof, arms outstretched, panting heavily, legs shaking. The white streak in her hair seemed to spread, growing larger with each breath she heaved.

"Did she just. . ." Raph trailed off.

April lowered her arms, the wind died down, the air didn't seem so thick anymore. Coming back to herself, April took in the sight of the glowing green puddle, two moaning turtles in front of it, and the others picking themselves up to the side.

She was worried about Donnie and Mikey, but at least the Creep was gone, and Leo and Raph would look after them. Her pounding headache finally seemed to have died down, and taking what small relief she could get, April collapsed onto the cold hard rooftop.

* * *

 **A/N:** Man, it's only the third chapter and April's already passed out, like, twice. Get it together girl!


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

He was torn awake by the sudden surge of psychic power. The boy jumped out of his bed and flung his window open. He studied the surrounding buildings, as if they could give him answers. Something had happened. He felt it. The chaos is closing in. But as quickly as it appeared, it vanished. It wasn't too far away, and making a quick decision, he snuck out of the small apartment and made his way to the roof access.

Shivering against the cold night wind, he once again studied the buildings around him. Seeing nothing, he closed his eyes and felt out for the Shard's power, reaching his mind's influence as he had done many times before. He felt it, it was faint, but there was something. And it wasn't exactly like the Shard either. It was different. Angrier. Darker.

Concern bled through his mind. There was another power at work here, more than the Shard, and it felt like something big was going to happen.

Then another thought occurred to him. If that pulse of energy was strong enough to awaken him like it had, was it strong enough to draw the attention of the ones they were hiding from? Is it even possible to track something after it has passed through the Hyper Vacuum?

Ugh. Too many unknowns. Best course of action would be to find the Shard as soon as possible. She'd know the answers to these questions.

 **Oo-oO**

Casey Jones sauntered into class the following morning with his usual swagger. And check it out, he wasn't even late yet! Score one for Casey Jones. He mentally patted himself on the back as he scanned the class, looking for Red. He was surprised when he didn't find her in her usual place. It was a rare day indeed when Casey beat April to class, especially the morning one.

 _Huh, maybe she's taking the day off after the whole rock thing yesterday,_ Casey thought. He had yet to be informed about the late night fight, so he didn't feel too worried. Instead, he spotted that new skater kid. What was his name again? Oh yeah, Jay. From Canada.

"What up, didn't know you were in biology too." Casey greeted as he fell into the chair next to him and propped his feet up on his desk. The kid started at the sudden noise.

"Hey," Jay replied quietly. He seemed distracted, but Casey just shrugged. Not his business.

"You seen April today?" Casey asked.

The kid shook his head before zoning out again, staring out the window. Casey rolled his eyes at the kid and tagged him as a dreamer before turning to his own thoughts.

His first thoughts went to April, and he imagined her surprise when she saw he got to class before her. Maybe she would even be impressed by his puntu-, punctiv-, punctuality. Casey ginned to himself as he remembered the big word. Who knows, maybe being on time to class had its' advantages.

The few minutes before the class bell ticked by and April still hadn't show. Beside Casey, Jay was still staring out the window with a look of concentration. Casey was about to say something when the bell shrilled through the halls and the school day officially started.

The teacher started taking attendance when April finally showed up, or more like stumbled in. She had these slight rings under her eyes from a lack of sleep, she was wearing black in place of her trademark yellow T-shirt, and her hair was still down, emphasizing the new white streak that seemed to have gotten bigger over the course of the night, almost taking up half her head.

Casey noticed his neighbour finally snap out of whatever funk he was in, his eyes automatically locking onto April, an odd expression on his face that Casey couldn't read. He was about to comment when the teacher spoke.

"Miss. O'Neil, you're tardy," the teacher said, raising an eye brow.

"Yeah, yeah," April muttered before slouching into her seat a few rows in front of where Casey sat.

 _That was weird,_ Casey thought. It's not like April to be late, no matter the circumstances. Even after the whole alien invasion, April was rarely ever late. Was she getting sick? Or did that whole Rock thing take more out of her then he thought.

But Casey couldn't ask her about it just yet, seeing as how she wasn't beside him. He debated passing her a note, but with some of the other gossipers in this class, he didn't want to risk it. So, inwardly grumbling to himself, Casey flopped his head on his arms crossed on his desk and tried not to fall asleep too fast as the teacher began the day's lesson.

 **Oo-oO**

"My lord, we have picked up activity from one of the Shard's of Light," a rather well kept man reported.

"You don't need to tell me. I can feel it," the responding voice was deep, raspy and quiet. Deep in the shadows cast by blocking out the light, the monster of a man gazed out into the dark, empty void that was space.

The well kept man bowed slightly before continuing. "We have traced the signal to the Third Dimension on a secluded, underdeveloped planet known locally as Earth in the year 2015."

"It's the yellowone," the monster declared. "The Shard lost in the Hyper Vacuum."

"You are certain, my lord?"

"Positive," the monster chuckled. "And what of the boy?"

"We have detected nothing of the Guardian. But after having fallen through such an anomaly as the Hyper Vacuum, who is to say the child even survived?"

"Oh he's alive. These brats are persistent, there's no way they would succumb that easily."

"As you say, my lord. What course of action should be undertaken?"

"Send out the Tagoos. I want an exact location and positive identification of the Shard. But no action is to be taken until the Guardian has been found. He hasn't retrieved the Shard yet, so he is not at full power. He will also be weakened by his little trip through the Hyper Vacuum. I want the boy first, bring him to me where he will not be able to interfere any longer."

"Wouldn't it be wiser to dispose of the boy as soon as he's found?"

"Fool, that would only serve to alert the Light to their location. No, the boy will be kept alive until I have the Shard in my grasp. Then a suitable demise with be dealt to him."

"Yes, my lord." The well kept man backed out of the monster's chambers and activated his communication line. "Dispatch the Tagoos. Orders are to locate and capture the Guardian before procuring the Shard. Move out as soon as possible, their destination: New York City."

 **Oo-oO**

"The human body is comprised of various systems that work in a delicate balance," the teacher lecture. "If any one of these factors isn't functioning properly, the whole unit can shut down."

April sighed and reluctantly opened her note book. Last night was rough. When she woke up, her headache was finally gone, but she couldn't seem to focus on anything. Her thoughts kept drifting from one thing to another. Her favorite yellow shirt was covered in white vomit-blood, so she grabbed the first thing her hand touched in her drawer. Her hair still fell around her shoulders because she couldn't stay focused on finding another elastic to replace the one that broke.

The walk to school had been almost maddening. In the alleys she passed, she would imagine glinting eyes of monsters that could be hiding. The rougher looking individuals would be given horrendous backstories full of anger and spite. The innocent bystanders would be incorporated into devastation accompanied by pain and suffering. April tried to shake these dark thoughts from her head, but it proved fruitless. Instead, she found a hint of amusement buried somewhere within these fantasies.

Now, here she was sitting in biology class, listening to the teacher go on about the human body while she imagined all the painful accidents that could occur with the proper use, or rather misuse, of her pencil sharpener. When her thoughts started to turn rather gruesome, she managed to snap herself out of it.

 _What is wrong with me today?_ April asked herself, rubbing her eyes and once again focusing on what the teacher was saying. Unfortunately, she chose the wrong moment to tune back in.

"Can anyone tell me what homeostasis is?" the teacher asked, looking out to assess how many students were actually paying attention. The teacher's gaze, naturally, fell on April who just so happened to be looking that way. "April?"

 _Oh crap,_ April felt the pressure build in her chest as she was called upon. _Come on. You know this. I'm sure Donnie's said something about it at one point. What's homeostasis?_

. . . Data Retrieved: Homeostasis is a term for the mechanisms by which a living body maintains their internal environment within a very narrow tolerance range. The body recognizes different forms of stress and responds to return the environment back to a state where systems function properly. Transmission Terminated.

 _What was that?_ The information flooded her brain and April realized that she wasn't sitting in her chair anymore. Looking around, she found the eyes of all her classmates on her, with looks of surprise. _Wait, did I just say that out loud?!_

"V-very good, Miss. O'Neil," the teacher stuttered, turning back to the board. "Take a seat. Like she said, homeostasis is . . ."

April sank back into her seat, ignoring the continued looks from some of the other students. Her headache seemed to have started up again.

But what was that? It's like one minute she was scrambling for an answer, then she just knew. It was like a computer screen that just uploaded text from the Internet, but then it was gone just as fast. If you asked her to repeat what it was she said, she wouldn't be able to do it.

April shook her head, trying to clear it. What she didn't notice, was that while all the other students went back to listening, or rather ignoring, the teacher, one person kept their intense gaze fixed on April O'Neil.

The teacher finished the lesson just as the bell rang. Casey watched in dismay as April packed up a notebook that looked like it had nothing written in it and raced out into the hall, one hand holding her head. She didn't stop to say 'hi', no little wave of acknowledgement, hell, she didn't even look over his way. Come on, he'd even beaten her to class!

"Is she alright?" Jay asked beside him, following his gaze. Casey was started out of his train of thought, and was surprised to see that Jay had initiated the conversation, as opposed to avoiding questions and saying as little as possible.

"She . . . had a rough day yesterday," Casey replied uneasily. "But she'll bounce back, she always does." He hoped she would.

"What happened?" Jay asked quietly. Casey met his piercing gaze and got an odd feeling, like there was more going on than he knew. Not wanting to give too much away, Casey scrambled for an answer.

"Uh . . . hairdresser! Yeah, the hairdresser messed up. Did ya see the white streak in her hair? She was kind of pissed about it, hasn't said much since." Casey was impressed with himself. He made it to class on time, and came up with a believable excuse, all in the same day! Casey Jones is on a role. Now let's see what this role can do for his friend.

"Hey, I'll catch you later," Casey called to the skater kid as he rushed to catch up with April, not giving Jay anytime to ask anymore questions.

Casey rounded a corner and scanned the crowd of teenagers, but saw no sign of the fiery red hair in the sea of bobbing heads. With a dejected sigh, he headed to his next class. Maybe he'll catch up with her in calculus.

Only April didn't show up to calculus. She was too busy exploring what she could do with this new found ability of hers. It happened a few other times in Biology, and again in History. She would think of a question, and the answer would pop into her head, like a robotic voice telling her what she was looking for.

Passing by a bulletin board full about chemistry, she found the weirdest word on the board.

 _What is an aliphatic hydrocarbon?_

. . . Data Retrieved: An aliphatic hydrocarbon in an organic molecule that contains no aromatic rings. Transmission Terminated.

Spying a spot of green gunk on one of the walls. _What is that spot?_

. . . Data Retrieved: Substance analyzed. Chemical components include glycoproteins, lipids, salts, nitrogen and carbon. Conclusion, substance is a form of mucus developed in various life forms biological systems as a filter to prevent foreign particles from entering into the body. In local term, substance is identified as . . . snot. Transmission Terminated.

Quickly stepping away from the green spot on the wall, April smiled to herself. With each 'search' that she made, her headache seemed to flare momentarily.

 _This must be a side-effect from the reaction with the, what did Mikey call it, Shock Rock._ April mused. _It's like it boosted my psychic abilities, and the headaches are just activating it. Hopefully they'll go away as I get used to it._

Another display caught her attention. The anthropology department just set up a display case showing the different weapons that cavemen used: spearheads, axe hands, arrow heads. April briefly thought about the weapons that she's been fighting against. Swords, ninja stars, chains, morning stars, the list continued on for ever. She thought of how the battles she'd fought in had been mostly against robots, as if the human element of the whole ordeal had been cut out entirely. There was no flesh to cut, no blood to spill, no lives to tak—

The bell sounded for the end on class, making April jump. She realized that she had been wandering around the halls the entire period.

 _What was I just thinking?_ April asked as her head started to pound. _Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to search so many things._

 **Oo-oO**

"What happened April?" Casey asked in the lunch room. "You totally ditched class! You never ditch class."

"Sorry, Casey," April apologized, "but something happened."

"Last night?"

"Well, yes, something did happen last night but that's not what I mean."

"You're not making any sense Red."

"Then shut up and just listen for once," April snapped.

"Woah," Casey held his hands up in front of him, "sorry. You sure you're feeling alright?"

"Would you stop asking that? It's starting to get really annoying."

"Alright, just calm down. Now, what happened?"

"Ugh. Nothing, just never mind," April stood up from the table, leaving behind a tray of food that she barely touched.

"Hey, where're you going?" Casey asked incredulously as she turned to leave, but she didn't answer, she just walked away, the light catching the white streak that only seemed to be getting bigger.

"Something wrong?" A quiet voice asked behind Casey. He turned to see Jay, the new kid, watching April leave with those calculating blue eyes.

"I don't know, man," Casey replied shaking his head. "She's been a little off since last night."

"Something tells me there's more to it than a botched perm," eyes turning back to Casey.

"Something like that," Casey sighed. "It's all that stupid rock's fault."

"Rock?" Jay asked.

"Naw, it's nothing." Casey brushed him off, scolding himself for letting that slip. It wouldn't be fair to get the kid involved in their crap. "Hey, I'll catch you later. I'm gonna go try and find out what's up."

 **Oo-oO**

The boy watched the girl leave the lunchroom, and her friend soon followed. The girl was definitely giving off the Shard's power, or at least some of it. At least he though it was the Shard's. There was something different about it, like the night before, this was darker than what he was used to.

The pure signal he'd gotten from the Shard the previous day had yet to resurface and the boy was starting to get a little worried. Something must have happened. Maybe that girl had stolen the Shard's power? That would certainly explain why she was giving off these signals. But the Shard wouldn't be so foolish as to choose a host without him there to oversee the process . . . right? And what are the odds that there would even be a human who's compatible with the Shard's power anyway.

A feeling of foreboding worked its way into the boy's mind and he groaned inwardly. But if the Shard had transferred to this girl, then why hadn't the Shard made contact? He was close by, and he thought he was being rather obvious in sending out his mental waves, signaling who he was. Why wasn't the Shard responding?

There are too many unknowns in the equation, and it was about time he started finding some facts.

* * *

 **A/N:** Yeah, yeah, I know, no real action in this chapter. It's more of a transition from one scene to the next. But worry not, there shall be blood (metaphorically) in the next chap. Oh, and seeing how it's Saturday and I've only gotten done like, four or so chapters, it doesn't really look like I'll be making my goal to finish this story before classes start. :'( I'm dying on the inside as well. But not to fear! I think I was just stuck on some parts, and Figment is on my side. The chapters will be rolling out, and I plan on having chapter 5 for sure finished tonight (don't know if I'll post it tonight), and possible a chap 6 in the making. Hey, look at that, this is turning into another one of those ridiculously long author's notes, you know, the ones that everybody hates. I wonder if anyone will even read this far or if they'll get board when they read that it's just me complaining about not making by deadline. But hey, if you did get to this point in the A/N, wow. Just wow. I don't even know what to say except, if you did read all of this, let me know my typing 'You can never trust a fart' as a review. You will forever have my respect, and you'll even get a shout out in the next chapter!


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N** : Another 2 chaps in one day, go me! Shout out opp still open to those who can find it. And might I say, this is the chapter where shit starts to go down.

* * *

Chapter 5

"Done!" Donnie held up the small device that looked similar to his ooze tracker. "With this new Shock Rock scanner, we'll be able to scope out the rest of the city."

"Good job, Donnie," Leo said turning to the rest of the team. "Tonight, we make a thorough sweep. We don't want any of these things left on the street for civilians to find."

"But what about April?" Casey's asked. "I'm telling ya guys, something's up with her." Casey had been unable to find April after she had stormed off at lunch. She wouldn't answer her phone and she didn't respond to his texts, even the Turtles were getting a little worried.

"I've got her T-Phone's GPS location locked," Donnie said, pulling up a map of the city. April's T-Phone blipped on one of the streets. "We can check in on her while we search for Shock Rocks."

"Alright, then let's do this," Casey flipped down his hockey mask and twirled his stick in a move that would impress anyone. Or it would, if there was anyone who even remotely cared.

"Donnie, fire up the Shell Razor," Leo said. "We finish this tonight."

 **Oo-oO**

"My lord," the well kept man addressed the monster in his chambers. "The Tagoos have landed and have proceeded to locate one we believe it to be the Guardian."

"Excellent," the Monster purred in his deep voice. "Show me a visual."

A two-dimensional holographic screen materialized in front of the Monster showing an image of a weak human, the dominant species on the planet. This human has vibrant ginger hair with a streak of white on one side, brilliant blue eyes, and was female.

"The Guardian has become a female?" the Monster questioned before laughing heartily. "Well, it was always said that the Hyper Vacuum leaves you changed forever. You are positive this is the Guardian?"

"This human is definitely radiating the Shard's power, although the signal is a little warped. But we are assuming that the Guardian's passage through the Hyper Vacuum may have altered his abilities slightly as well as his appearance. It could also be due to the passage through the time portal. We _are_ dealing with an eight-thousand-year jump into the past across half the known universe."

"Show me the readings," the Monster demanded, suddenly skeptical of his underling's conclusions. The well kept man handed over a document and waited for his lord to come to the same conclusion as he. The well kept man was rather taken aback when his lord growled and threw the report on the ground in disgust. "This is not the Guardian! His power would not be this weak, even after being influenced by the Hyper Vacuum, especially with the Shard close at hand. But this female human has obviously come into contact with the Shard, has absorbed some of its power in some way. She interests me. Bring her here along with the boy. I wish to study her hold over the Shard's power."

"As you wish my lord," the well kept man gathered the documents scattered on the ground before excusing himself.

 **Oo-oO**

Down on Earth, in the settlement known as New York City, Tagoos filtered through the streets, eager to please their lord and master. Surrounded by an energy field, these soldiers passed by civilians without being noticed. Only those with a high level of perception could overcome the effects of the shield, and these humans were quite lacking.

A report came in, a squadron had located the female human and were about to engage. A back-up squadron was assigned in case any complications should arise. Three other squadrons were left to search for the Guardian.

The Commanding Tagoo relaxed slightly in his pod that hovered over the city, directing the movements and actions of the squadrons. Everything was running smoothly, and with luck, they would have the female human within the night.

It was the Guardian that was proving to be troublesome. While the Commanding Tagoo had no doubt that he was in this city, his master was always correct when it came to such matters, there had been no trace of his power signature. Other than a few minor blips that could not be properly traced, the Guardian was doing well to keep himself hidden. But the second he used his Guardian abilities, they would be ready to take him down and bring him groveling to his master.

 **Oo-oO**

April sighed as she made her way down the darkened street. She hadn't meant to run out on Casey like that, it had just sort of happened. She really wanted to share her new ability with him, but something just pulled at her the wrong way, and the next thing she knew, she was stalking out of the school, angry as hell.

She had meant to go talk to the guys down below, but her headache had started up again and she didn't feel like talking to anyone at the moment. She decided to just go home and rest, but that didn't quite end up happening either. So April spent the day by herself, wandering the city lost in thought, but if you asked her what it was she was mulling over, she wouldn't be able to tell you. It was as if her mind was on auto-pilot and someone else was in control of her actions.

April snapped out of her trance-like state when she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. It was her a text from Casey. In fact, she had received several texts over the course of the day. Odd, she didn't notice her phone going off until now.

Then she noticed the time. Glancing up at the sky, she confirmed that it was indeed way later than she thought, it was already getting dark. She'd been walking around aimlessly the whole day!

 _Something is definitely wrong,_ April sighed. _Maybe I'm just tired._

Looking around, she got her bearings straight and headed in the general direction of home. Walking down the small street, April noticed the lack of people around. It wasn't _that_ late out, there should have been more people.

She cut through an empty parking lot and the street lights flickered on as the darkness seemed to flood in with the sun's departure. A whirring sound stopped her short and she looked around, seeing nothing but the empty parking lot. It sounded like a machine, with the buzz of energy. Wait . . . She looked up towards the newly lit street lamp. Maybe it's malfunctioning.

With a shrug, she continued a few more steps, but stopped again when the whirring got louder. But she was moving away from the lamp. Whirling around again, she was met once again by the empty lot.

 _What is that sound?_

A shimmer in the air focused her attention on a spot about ten feet in front of her. The light bending at odd angles, causing the background image to distort. April concentrated on this point and she felt a presence. Someone, or some _thing_ was there. Almost as if something was guiding her, April unconsciously drew on her new found abilities. She raised a hand and shot of yellow light flew at the shimmering presence.

It connected with something solid and the energy field broke. April stared first at her hand that had shot the energy, it was glowing with yellow veins that died out as the charge cooled down. But before she could wonder what the heck that was, an angry clicking brought her back to _what_ she had just blasted.

The creature before her, because it definitely wasn't human, stood around four feet tall and was covered entirely by metal, not shiny metal either. Dirt and rust filled the joints although no sound was made as it moved. She would have mistaken this thing for a robot, if it weren't for the face. It was more like one of those alien things out of Space Heroes with the long noses, but its skin was hard and grey, and pieces of machinery were attached the head, creating a type of helmet with different pieces flicking in front of its' eyes.

Then April noticed that there were more shimmering patches around her and she realized that this creature was not alone. The whirring died down as the creatures deactivated their cloaking shields and April soon found herself surrounded by clicking Space Hero alien cyborgs, and they didn't look friendly.

 _What the heck are these things?_ April thought.

. . . Data Retrieved: Match found. Life form identified as Tagoo, a race of simple minded beings that originated from the Lepthar Galaxy. When discovered by the Dark Overlord Kentoki, they were recruited to become their soldiers, their inferior minds content with the simple accommodations they were promised. With short, sturdy bodied, quick reflexes and enormous strength, the Tagoos were quick to eliminate enemies and they followed orders efficiently to please their masters. Transmission Terminated.

"Because I wasn't having a bad enough day as it is," April grumbled, falling into a defensive stance. "Let's just throw in some creepy aliens into the mix. What the hell, the Kraang are gone, so it's about time we got invaded again."

One of the creatures stepped forward, the leader of that particular squadron, its eye piece flicked up and another flicked down into its place. It clicked at her in its' own language as if she was supposed to understand what it was saying . . . but then, she did.

"Surrender, female," the Tagoo clicked, and April understood as if she had been speaking alien clicks for years. The same power feeding her this information was translating the alien speech, the words flowing freely into her mind as if the creature was speaking words she understood.

"Yeah right," April replied, no longer surprised by the alien translator in her head.

Whether or not the Tagoo did understand exactly what it was she said, it was clear that they got the gist of it. With a twisting mouth that couldn't be called a smile, all the Tagoos powered up their weapons; batons and blasters that were meant to stun. They weren't allowed to kill, since their master wanted the female alive.

The leader of the squadron was allowed the first shot, as was the custom, and he expected an easy capture. In fact, the leader was already thinking of the praise he would receive for fulfilling his orders.

He lifted his blaster gun, took aim, and fired.

April saw the shot coming, and managed to leap out of the way of the oncoming blast. As soon as the shot missed, the other Tagoos leapt into battle, eager to please their master.

With a flick of the wrist, April's tessen sang to life, knocking back batons and deflecting blaster shots. Despite her skill, there were just too many. But then, like during the battle with the Creep the night before, April felt anger well up inside her. These stupid, simple minded cretins thought they could get the best of her? They are fools who should know their place in this world. A voice was urging her to give in, let the anger take control. April didn't know how, but she somehow knew that if she gave in, she would win this fight. But it felt like if she let the anger take over, something bad would happen.

The choice was soon made for her when one of the Tagoos scored a lucky hit. The flashing baton came down on her back and sparks traveled through her body as the stunning shock permeated her system. April screamed as pain blossomed from the hit and her tessen fell uselessly to the ground. She felt the anger bubble and get stronger, she felt it taking over, even as her world went black.

The squadron cheered as the female arched her back and let out a scream. The squadron leader was pleased and they didn't even need help from the back up squadron that the Commander had assigned. The leader was just about to report their success in capturing the female when the screams turned into cackles, then full blown evil laughter.

The female didn't fall into a twitching heap on the ground, instead she stood straighter. Flashes of the stunning shock still radiated through her body, and in the low lighting, what was left of her once fiery red hair faded to pure white as the laughter grew in volume. Her eyes seemed to glow as yellow tendrils ran across her hands and down her arms like glowing veins. She stood up straighter, cracking her neck and stretching her arms out in front of her.

"Ah, that's so much better," the female said, a ringing voice overlapping her own, as if two different people were speaking at the same time. "I gotta say guys, I never thought I'd be getting out of that one. I should really thank you, Tagoos was it? You gave me the opening I needed to finally take control. And I must admit, it feels _so good_ to finally have a body again."

The squadron leader was the first to recover from his shock. With an angry click, he ordered his soldiers to attack, it's just one human female, she couldn't do anything against an entire squadron of Tagoos under the service of Lord Kentoki. The Tagoos, snapped back to the task at their leader's command and charged, batons crackling and blasters charging.

"How cute," the female smirked, her two-toned voice ringing out in the empty lot. The little Tagoos rushed in close while she examined her fingernails. The closer they got, the more the yellow veins in her hands seemed to glow. When they were all within striking distance, _she_ struck first. A flick of her hand sent out a shockwave of energy, similar to the one that destroyed the Creep, but down-graded. The Tagoos were all knocked back in a perfect circle with her in the middle, their weapons shorted out and the dim light fading.

"I'll tell you guys what," the female said, crouching down so she was face to face with the squadron leader who struggled to pick himself up, "since you were oh, so kind as to help me break out of that mental prison, I'll do you a favor. Instead of serving that Kentoki guy, you can work for me."

The squadron leader growled and clicked back at her, "My loyalty is to my master."

"Oh, don't be like that," April laughed, the sound of the two-toned laughter sending shivers down the Tagoos spines, or at least their version of a spine. "It'll be great. I'll give you orders, you'll do my bidding, I'll mistreat you horribly . . . what more could you ask for?"

"Fall into a vacuum, female," the leader cursed.

April in turn put on a dejected face. "Oh, well. I was rather hoping that I wouldn't have to force the issue, but I really do need some minions, and you guys are the only ones around. So, let's just get this over with."

The squadron leader watched with growing terror as the female stretched up to her full height and, extending her arms out in front of her. The yellow veins in her arms faded as she gathered a powerful amount of psychic energy into her hands. With another flick and a sadistic grin, she sent the energy over his squadron.

His soldiers that were only starting to pick themselves up froze as a new consciousness passed through their simple minds, taking control with ease. The squadron leader watched as his comrades fell to their knees in front of the female, swearing allegiance. Although he fought her control, the leader, too, could feel the invasive powers of the female taking over his mind.

"Master Kentoki, forgive me. I've failed you." Clicking a last apology to the heavens, the squadron leader fell to his knees and joined his squadron in the females control.

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, what do you think? There's been dark Raph, there's been dark Leo, dark Donnie and even dark Mikey. But has there ever been a dark April? No really, if there is let me know. It's this dark April idea that became the seed to this whole story, and chaos just sort of erupted from there.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"No, no, no!" the boy muttered to himself as he felt a surge of the Shard's darkened power. "It's awakened, I'm too late."

His attempt to track the girl, April O'Neil, had proved fruitless. Even the small glimmers of power she had been emanating hadn't been enough to pinpoint a traceable location. He then tried to follow her friend, Casey Jones, to see if he could lead him to her. But, embarrassingly, he managed to lose Jones when he disappeared into an alley.

Feeling defeated and utterly useless, the boy found himself on the roof of the tallest building, straining his senses to their maximum capacity, trying to feel _something_ ; another glimmer of the dark Shard's power, a hint of where the _real_ Shard was, hell, even a trace of enemies would be welcome at this point. That at least would give him a clue as to where to go.

After hours of searching, he finally found it. Or rather, the overwhelming surge almost knocked his senses out. He realized how supressed this dark power had been when he felt a barrier break and the darkness was released. And what a darkness it was. But that was to be expected when the Shard was involved.

He couldn't let this go on. He was a Guardian! He had to stop this chaos before people started getting hurt!

 **Oo-oO**

Deep in the sewers, one of the lesser used areas, in an abandoned storage room, behind the false backing in a cupboard that's all but rotted away lay a room where people once gathered in search of freedom. The secret bunker used back in the 1800s by the Underground Railroad now held another treasure; one that is coveted by many throughout the known universe. The Shard.

In a hidden compartment in the secret room, surrounded by an impenetrable safe, the Shard slowly came to its senses. Waking up after a failed attempt to connect with a compatible host was never pleasant, but waking up in a small box with no concept of where it was or even how long it's been there was even more nerve wracking. But the Shard was more annoyed than nervous by the turn of events.

The Shard had actually managed to find a compatible host, only for things to go horrible wrong. Being in a coma sort of state didn't help matters either. But the clincher was waking up in some stupid, cramped, cold metal box that didn't even let residual radiation through. It was like there was nothing beyond this crappy box!

 _What is this anyway?_ The Shard asked no one in particular. _I've never seen this type of alloy before. And how is it able to block out radiation like that? How's my Guardian supposed to find me if I can't send out a signal for him to follow?_

The Shard instinctively reaching to the data banks that would answer these questions.

. . . Error.

 _The blarg? No, no error. What's this stupid metal made of?_

. . . Error.

 _What the hell? Where's my transmission? Is the box blocking that too?_

. . . Error.

 _I wasn't searching that!_

The Shard mentally sighed in defeat as her search options seemed to be malfunctioning. Resigning to the inevitable, the Shard launched into a sort of Trouble Shoot mode, searching for the cause of such an error. What the Shard found was disturbing.

 _Gone? It can't just be gone! By data base, all the knowledge we've gathered. Just gone? How—_

That's when the Shard realized what had happened, and the thought scared the living hell out of her. The data base wasn't missing, it was stolen.

 **Oo-oO**

"Woah!" Donnie exclaimed as his new tracker started screaming. The turtles and Casey were in the Shell Razor, driving around the city to see what signals they could pick up.

"What is it?" Leo asked from the front seat. Casey peered over Donnie's shoulder and tried to make sense of the numbers and letters and weird shapes on the trackers screen.

"Got a signal. It's big!"

"How big?" Mikey asked. "Like _big_ big, or Raph's head big?" This earned him a glare from said brother and a silent promise of pain later. Mikey shied away and pulled the hair dryer that was attached to his seat down over his eyes.

"Mikey, enough goofing off," Leo scolded. "Which way?"

Mikey rolled his eyes as their location appeared on the map at his station. After three wrong turns, backtracking twice, and an odd encounter with a taco stand, the Shell Razor pulled to a silent stop a few blocks away from the Shock Rock signal.

 **Oo-oO**

"That's more like it," the white-haired girl said as the last of her new minions fell to their knees before her. "Now, what to do?"

She thought for a moment; she was finally free of that mental prison, plans that were once only dreams could finally come to pass. First thing on the agenda, before any thought of destruction could be implemented, was that rock. Shock Rock, as those stupid turtles referred to it. Having only captured a smidgen of its essence, it was decided that the rest of this enormous power must be obtained. With such power at her disposal, those that had wronged her will fall, along with those that who would get in her way.

"Speaking of those that would get in the way," her two-toned voice murmured as the presence of five life forms approached. Sure enough, four turtles and Casey Jones soon appeared. The smart one was holding some sort of device that was tracking the power she was radiating.

"April!" Donatello called out upon seeing her surrounded by a new sort of enemy, shoving the tracker in his belt. He rushed to her side, leaping over the cluster of enemies and standing defensively between them and her, drawing his staff. The only thought running through his head was to defend her.

"That's so sweet," a two-toned voice rang out behind Donnie, amused, "My hero." The voice was familiar with a dark undertone to it, creating a creepy echoing effect. It made Donnie freeze as his rational thought process started up again and he realized that something was very much not right.

Slowly turning to look at his friend, he took in her altered appearance; her hair that fell loose around her shoulders had gone completely white with no trace of the once fiery red that mimicked her personality, her arms glowed softly with a yellow light that disappeared under a black shirt, and her eyes were a darker blue than before with sparks of that yellow dotting them.

"April?" he asked uncertainly, not sure how to process these changes.

"How do you like my new friends?" the two-toned voice asked again, gesturing to the group gathered around. That's when Donnie noticed that the new . . . aliens, he guessed, weren't attacking. Actually, it looked more like they were . . . bowing? They were just sitting there, doing nothing, just waiting.

"What's going on?" Donnie breathed, taking in the new creatures' odd appearance, lowering his staff from its defensive stance.

"They're going to help me," April smiled sweetly in a familiar manner, but it looked dark and sinister in Donnie's eyes amplified by the echoing voice. "Will you help me too?"

"Help you with what?" Donnie was quickly becoming uneasy with the one he thought he knew so well. "April, what happened to you?"

"I just need you to stand still," she reached up and grasped his head between her hands even as he tried to move away. Latching onto the sides of his face, her fingers dug into flesh and her arms started to glow brighter.

Leonardo watched in horror with his brothers and Casey as the yellow light rushed down April's arms and into Donatello's head. His eyes went blank and started to glow as the yellow light danced around his face. A cry of surprise and pain escaped his opened mouth before he fell to his knees in front of the glowing girl with white hair.

"Donnie!" Leo yelled as he leapt forward, knowing the others were right with him. But he only got as close as the ring of aliens before the closest one lashed out with a sparking baton. The movement was quick and unexpected from the previously stationary creature, and Leo was barely able to bring up his sword in time to catch the hit. The creature pressed against Leo's katana, trying to force him back, but Leo was bigger and easily pushed it off and away. Glancing to Mikey, Raph, and Casey he could see them in similar positions.

"Keep them busy," the two-toned voice that definitely did not belong to their friend said distractedly. All at once, the three brothers and Casey found themselves surrounded by the aliens that wielded sparking batons and alien blasters.

"You're not April!" Leo challenged over the heads of the small force they faced, concerned for Donnie who was still on his knees in front of the girl who wasn't who she appeared to be. Donnie hadn't moved and his eyes were glowing bright on a face void of emotion.

"And your interupting," the two-toned voice confirmed. "Let me work, then I'll get to you."

"What are you trying to do?"

"I am _so_ not getting into the whole evil villain reveals his plan speech right now," she said, "I'm a little busy with Donnie-boy here, so if you wouldn't mind . . ."

With an invisible signal creatures converged on the small fighting force while the not-April returned her attention to the fallen turtle sitting in front of her. The link was established, she pushed into his mind.

 **Oo-oO**

The intense pressure in his head came out of nowhere so suddenly that he found himself falling to the ground before the pain faded away. Donatello opened his eyes to find himself in a dark place that extended for an indeterminate distance. There was no one and nothing around for as far as he could see.

But what happened? How had he gotten here? The last thing he remembered was that April was in trouble, and then . . .

And then it wasn't April.

Something was very wrong, and it all started after he brought the Shock Rock home. Somehow, he didn't know how exactly, but the Shock Rock has done more damage than just a little headache when it reacted with April. If only he hadn't followed that signal, if only he hadn't brought the stupid thing home, none of this would have happened.

"Speaking of the Shock Rock," a disembodied voice echoed, reading his thoughts. "Where _did_ you hide it?" Donnie instantly recognized the voice; it was the voice that had overlapped with April's when she was speaking. It sounded two-toned because there were literally two voices speaking at once. One belonged to the friend he knew so well, and the other belonged to the dark presence that now surrounded him.

"Who are you?" Donnie demanded, his voice sounded echoed in the open space. "Where am I?"

"We're inside your mind," the voice answered.

"My mind?" Donnie's thoughts took off with the new bit of information. "Why is there nothing here?"

"Well, technically we're in between minds. It seems like your mental defenses are more advanced than most," the voice responded. "Couldn't quite get in by myself."

Turning around, Donnie saw that he was standing in front of a gate that wasn't there a moment ago. Beyond the gates were rows of books, computers, data banks. . . and Donatello knew that he was looking at his every bit of knowledge he'd ever learned in his lifetime. Everything he knew laid behind these gates.

"The gates into your mind," the voice said, drawing Donnie's attention back to where the voice came from. He turned back around, and came face to face with a dark silhouette. The figure didn't have a solid form, but seemed to shift as a fluid cloud with no expressions. The only element of a face it had was its mouth that grinned with teeth blacker than the rest of its body.

"I need you to open the gates for me," the dark cloud said simply, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Your kidding, right?" Donnie scoffed.

"Well, you're certainly not going to just tell me what I want."

"I'm not about to let into my head, either."

"No, I didn't think you would," the dark cloud admitted, "but hey, couldn't hurt to try. And since diplomacy isn't working, I get to have some fun." A dark smile stretched across it face and familiar yellow tendrils lit up inside the dark cloud, whisping around like yellow veins stretching out from its fingers.

Donnie fell into a defensive stance and reached for his staff, but it wasn't there. Twisting his head around, he confirmed that his bo was indeed absent, and he suddenly felt defenseless. When had he dropped his weapon?

Laughter brought his attention back to his opponent and he realized with a start that the yellow veins were ripping towards him. He cried out in shock as he fell to the side and rolled out of the way as they lashed out at him.

"You cannot beat me here, Donatello," the dark voice mocked. "I have lived on the mental plane all my life. My power here in unrivaled. Just submit before this gets too nasty, we wouldn't want your little girlfriend to get too anxious now, do we?"

"Girlfriend?"

No sooner had Donatello voiced his confusion did another figure appear. Chained to invisible walls, but straining against her bonds, April fought with everything she had.

"Donnie!" April cried out with a voice that was so familiar.

"April!" Donnie cried, "What did you do?!" He demanded the dark figure.

"I've finally taken control," the figure smiled menacingly, dark teeth shining. "After years of being forced into submission, being a slave to a stupid girl who dares to steal my strength. This has been a long time in the making, and I'm not letting this chance pass by. Now, where did you hide the Shock Rock!?"

"Donnie, look out!" April warned.

The figure launched itself at Donnie even as he brought his arm up to swat away the reaching yellow tendrils. Hand-to-hand training kicking in, and he blocked the dark arm that was swung his way before spin kicking the figure in the chest. The blow didn't land. Instead, his foot passed right through and the clouded figure dispersed before re-forming a short distance away.

"Fool," the figure taunted. "This is the mental plane. Your physical attacks won't do you any good here."

 _Mental plane?_ Donnie thought, trying to come up with a solution. _Mental, meaning thoughts. Got lots of those, but what can I do with them?_

Yellow tendrils snaked their way toward him again and Donnie did the only thing he could, he dodged. With his usual fighting method useless, he was at a loss as what he could do to get the upper hand against such an opponent.

"What do you need the Shock Rock for? What is it, anyway?" Donnie questioned, fishing for information and stalling for time.

The figure stopped at the questions before straightening up in thought. "You know," it admitted, "I have no idea what the damn thing is. Let's find out shall we?"

Donnie cocked his head in confusion. How was the dark figure going to just—

. . . Data Retreived:

"What the—," Donnie started at the random voice that echoed through the mental plane.

"This again!" April exclaimed from where she was chained.

. . . Item identified: One of the Seven Shards of Light. Source of the Light's power, and coveted by many. Where ever one of the Shards are found, chaos is sure to follow. Kept by a Guardian, the Shards await the day they can join together with the Light again. Transmission Terminated.

"What was that?!" Donnie demanded as the random voice faded away.

"My search engine," the figure smiled again. "It answers all my questions. It's just a little something that I got from the Shock Rock, or Shard or whatever it's called."

"So you've already got what you wanted," Donnie said. "Why do you still need it?"

"You see this," the figure asked, holding up a misty hand as the yellow tendrils snaked around it and through its fingers, before lashing out and Donnie danced away. They kept up this exchange as they spoke. "This power that I've obtained is only small fraction of what is contained within that rock. With this little bit, I was able to break out of my mental prison and take control of the vessel I have shared with the girl. There is still power sleeping within the Shard. I will need it if my plans are to be realized."

"Plans?"

"Domination!"

"Typical," Donnie rolled his eyes and yelled out in surprise as a yellow tendril managed to snake its way around his ankle and pull him off his feet.

"Donnie!" April cried out as Donnie was dragged toward the figure. More tendrils lashed out, wrapping around his arms and binding his hands above his head. The figure laughed as Donnie struggled to escape, memories of his recent encounter with the Creep filling his mind where he found himself in a similar situation. He hoped this didn't end the same way.

Thoroughly bound, the yellow tendrils hung Donatello up beside April, who was still struggling against her own chains.

"Now, how about opening those gates for me?" the figure said drawing uncomfortably close.

"Stuff it," Donnie spat out and kicked out at the figure with his free foot that, once again, passing right through the misty body.

"How unfortunate," the figure sighed, reforming, "for you at least. I'm going to enjoy this." The figure reached out a misty hand, the mysterious yellow tendrils rolling around inside.

"Don't you touch him!" April screamed next to him, but she was helpless as the figure placed its hand on Donnie's chest. Yellow tendrils felt around the hard plastron until they found the correct spot. Donnie struggled against his bonds even as the tendrils reared up and plunged into it chest, right into his heart.

"Donnie!"

 **Oo-oO**

Donnie's scream passed from the mental plane to the physical world and the sound ripped through the parking lot. Leo froze and whipped around, searching for his brother. Still kneeling on the ground, Donnie's glowing eyes were squeezed shut and his hands grabbed the wrists of the one holding his head. The white-haired April stood over him, her eyes closed in concentration. Donnie was still fighting, and Leo wasn't about to let him do it alone.

The momentary distraction left Leo encircled by four of the creatures. They all attacked at once, and four sparking baton swung toward him, only to hit the bare ground where he no longer stood. Leaping up, Leo landed on top of two of the creatures, intending to use them as stepping stones to launch himself to where Donnie was. But the sturdy creatures weren't expecting the sudden weight and all three came crashing to the ground instead.

"That didn't work," Leo muttered before rolling away to avoid sudden blaster fire. In a flash, he was up and running again, not bothering to engage any more enemies. He was already ticked at himself with that embarrassing fall, and he didn't want to waste anymore time.

In the background, he heard the gibberish yells of Mikey as he played with opponents before flipping around and dispatching them. He heard the angry roar of Raph as he charged through a group like an unstoppable animal, leaving no one in his path. He heard the 'Goongala!' of Casey as he shot his exploding hockey pucks at distant enemies. In all, they were handling themselves. Donnie was the one who needed help.

Weaving around the few remaining enemies, he drew closer to Donnie, but it was too late.

Maniacal, two-toned laughter filled the air as not-April opened her eyes again, the yellow light retreating from Donnie's eyes back into her arms and disappeared under a black shirt. Donnie's glowing eyes dimmed before they slid shut and he slumped to the ground.

"Donnie!" Leo covered the remaining distance and the white-haired April danced back as he swiped his swords at her.

"That was fun," not-April said, stretching her arms above her head. "He's a real fighter."

"What did you do to him?!" Leo demanded, standing protectively in front of his fallen brother.

"Just a little reconnaissance," she turned and started walking away. "He _might_ wake up, but that's not much of my concern. I've got bigger things to worry about, but then, so do you."

At the taunt, Leo realized that the fight wasn't over. He whirled around, and took in the sight of the air shimmering oddly in several places. The shimmers broke down and more creatures appeared from behind their cloaking shields.

"Reinforcements, just in time too," not-April said.

One of the creatures in front took in the sight of its fallen comrades and started making sharp clicking noises before charging. Leonardo stood on the defensive once again, but was startled when the creature ignored him and rushed at the white-haired girl, clicking angrily.

"Oh, don't be like that," she said in response to the clicking and flicked her wrist. A wave of yellow light shot out of her hand and struck the creature. It stopped it in its tracks before it fell to its knees. "That's better. You see, we can all be friends here."

The other creatures gapped at the submission of their comrade before they too charged, clicking their protest. Leo counted around fifteen of the little guys thundering towards April, but she once again flicked her wrist, sending out a larger wave of yellow light that engulfed them all. Soon, all of the little alien guys were kneeling before the white-haired April.

"Dude, that's so not right," Leo heard Mikey say somewhere to his right, "This is taking psychic to a whole new level. We've moved up from Super to Hyper."

"It's not April," Leo relayed to the others who drew up beside him. Mikey bent down beside Donnie, making sure he was alright, while Raph and Casey took up places to Leo's right and left.

"What gave it away?" Raph jeered. "Was it the white-hair or the creepy voice? Oh, what about the glowing arms, eh?"

"D's not waking up," Mikey said nervously as he shook his unconscious brother.

"Mikey, get Donnie back to the Shell Razor," Leo ordered, taking control, "Raph, you and Casey keep the cronies busy. I've got April."

"Hyper-April," Mikey insisted, before taking off with Donnie thrown over his shoulder. Leo just rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to _Hyper_ -April.

"This isn't how I thought tonight was gonna go," Casey admitted, twirling his hockey stick.

Hyper-April laughed, "You don't know who you're dealing with. But I know you're not just going to leave well enough alone. At least I've got my new friends, to keep you busy."

As one, the second wave of little creatures rose up and charged.

* * *

 **A/N:** Poor Donnie, I've been kind of mean to him lately. But a lot's happened in this chapter and I actually cut it shorter than I was going to. But whatever, here's to not doing school work and procrastination!

Oh, and I've got a little problem. I'm gonna need you guys to help out on this one, alright. I'm currently facing a monster that will destroy me if it's not fed! So if you want this author to survive the monsters wrath, feed it! That's right, the comment box is hungry and it's up to you guys to save the princess (that's me) from its clutches!


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Sorry for the hiatus, explanations for said break are located after the chapter in what is my attempt of being humorous. But as many could probably guess, schools a *****, but it's almost over. Last exam isn't for another couple weeks, and after that, we'll see what happens. For now, let's see how our fearless leader fares against Hyper April.

Note: Haven't really read over this in a while, but I just wanted to get this posted since it's been such a long time since I updated. Bare with me.

* * *

Chapter 7

The well kept man approached his lord once more. The Monster took in his reluctance to report and growled. He knew what was coming. Failure. Once more, these ridiculous creatures couldn't even complete the simple task of capturing some Earth girl and a powerless Guardian.

"My Lord," the well kept man managed to keep his voice even, "I'm sorry to report that the Tagoo battalion that we sent to Earth has taken heavy losses."

"Was it the boy?" the Monster asked, straining to keep his temper in check. It wouldn't do to take out the messenger.

"No, my lord," the well kept man brought up a holo-screen. "It was the female."

The image that appeared was of the same female child he had ordered the Tagoos to capture, but her appearance had changed slightly. The video played, starting with the image of the female surrounded by the Tagoo squadron. A flash of yellow light and a wave of energy ripped through the squadron. After a moment, the entire squadron fell to their knees.

"What is this?" the Monster demanded.

"It seems that the female was somehow able to take overwhelm the Tagoos' simple minds and take control of their will," the well kept man stated before the video began to loop, restarting to the beginning.

"Impossible," the Monster snarled. "The Shard does not possess such power."

"That's the thing," the well kept man brought up a chart beside the looping video. "There is more at work in this female than just the Shard's power. Something else is using the Shard's power as an amplifier for some sort of psychic attack that takes over the motor functions and thought processes."

"What next?" the Monster moaned, rubbing his head, "What of the boy? Have they at least been able to locate him?"

"No, my lord. He had not used any of his abilities. We have not been able track his essence."

"The Tagoos begin to ware out my patience," the Monster stood from his seat before stalking out of the room, the well kept man following behind closely. "Prepare my ship, I shall do the job myself."

 **Oo-oO**

"Who are you?" Leo demanded as he faced off against Hyper-April. He could hear the battle sounds behind him as Raphael and Casey took out the little alien creatures that she mind-controlled.

"What do you mean?" the white-haired girl responded innocently. "I'm your friend."

"You're not her!" Leo lunged forward, stabbing at her shoulder. A clang of metal on metal rang as Hyper-April deflected the blade with a familiar tessen, the metal fan glinting dangerously in the low light.

"Leo, Leo, Leo," the two-toned voice taunted. "You would strike me down in cold blood? And after everything we've through."

"You are not April!" Leo exclaimed before launching into a series of slashes and jabs, side stepping and deflecting, that was met with equal ferocity from the imposter. They were evenly matched, or at least they seemed to be.

"I may not be April O'Neil," Hyper April said, deflecting a swipe at her leg, "but this is still her body. Hurt me, and you hurt her."

Leo growled and spun away, putting distance between them.

"I don't need to hurt you to beat you," Leo replied, sheathing one of his katana and gripping the remaining one in both hands.

"Let's see you try," she taunted.

A puff of purple flared up as Leo broke a smoke bomb and melted into the shadows. Hyper-April smiled at the pitiful attempt. She stood still and unmoving as she tracked Leo's presence through the darkened parking lot.

It was too easy. Leonardo was too naïve to believe he could win against the newly empowered Hyper-April. His usual disappearing acts didn't have any effect when one could effectively follow your mental signature. Invisibility and stealth were useless against one of her power.

Leonardo struck from behind, as she knew he would. A hilt aimed at the base of her neck, a strike that would have easily and effectively put her out of commission . . . if she hadn't seen it coming.

"Silly Leo," the two-toned voice echoed in a child-like manner.

Just as the hilt of his sword was closing in for the KO, a yellow flash blinded Leo. He felt the jarring impact as the hilt connected. Blinking back purple spots that clouded his vision, Leo grit his teeth when he saw Hyper-April still standing, and grinning at him. Wrapped around the hilt of his sword, were glowing yellow tendrils that stopped the sword just inches before it hit.

"What?" Leo gawked and jerked back as the tendrils snaked around the hilt to entangle his hand. He tried jerking the blade from the tendrils' grasp, but it had too strong a grip. He felt them slide through his fingers and wrap around his wrist.

He struggled against their hold, but they wouldn't give up the katana. It was only when the tendrils started growing hot and burning that Leo finally relinquished his hold on his katana, slipping his hand out of the tendrils grasp before they could tighten. The yellow tendrils kept their grasp on the katana, letting it float in the air, supported by their clutching limbs.

"You are a fool, Leonardo," Hyper-April said as she plucked the sword out of the air. "You can't even touch me, let alone defeat me."

"Maybe not alone," Leo admitted.

"Goongala!"

A lone hockey puck sailed through the air and connected with Hyper-April's chest before combusting against the black T-shirt, and sending her to the ground from the resulting shock wave.

"Aw yeah!" Casey yelled as he skated over on his make-shift blades, "Direct hit."

"Easy there, big guy," Raph said, joining him. "Be sure to leave some for me." Together, the two rampaging vigilantes had fought like wild animals, leaving a bunch of little alien creatures lying defeated on the ground. The three remaining fighters now formed a ring around the last enemy standing.

"Ganging up on a girl? Now that's not fair." Hyper-April said, picking herself off the ground. The little fire cracker didn't do much other than surprise her, and leave a smouldering spot on her shirt. Her white hair was now a mess, with tangles falling over her face. "I've wasted enough time here. It's time to stop playing nice."

Leo saw two glinting eyes beneath a mess of white hair and drew his remaining katana from the sheath on his back. Raph followed Leo's lead and dropped into an offensive stance, sais ready. Casey eyed the girl who was no longer April, and adjusted his grip on his hockey stick.

Hyper-April just smirked and drove Leo's katana into the ground and clasping her hands together. The yellow glow moved through her arms and into her chest until the light shone through the dark material of her shirt.

Leo jumped forward, drawing back to strike when the glowing energy was released. A curved wave of light erupted from her clasped hands and hit the three warriors head on. As the light faded into the night, the three warriors slumped to the ground and Hyper-April fell to her knees, breathing hard.

She did it. She beat them. But it was costly. She struggled to her feet, stumbling as she regained her balance. The fight took a lot out of her. She used too much energy. She needs to rest.

 _No! I can't rest yet. I need to get the rest._

"The Shock Rock," she muttered to herself, smiling to herself. "I've got to get the Shock Rock."

She stalked away from the battle-field.

Leonardo watched through half open eyes as understanding dawned in his fading mind. The Shock Rock did this to April, and now she was going after it. He had to stop her, but not before his eyes slid shut and he was lost from the conscious realm.

 **Oo-oO**

"Leo! Raph! Dude, Casey. You guys gotta wake up!" Mikey called out to his fallen team members as he shook his oldest brother. Sirens wailed in the not so far distance, signaling that their show down had not gone unnoticed.

Leo groaned and his eyes fluttered open. "Mikey?"

"Leo, we gotta get out of here," he said.

"Donnie?"

"He's still out," Mikey said. Donatello hadn't so much as stirred since Mikey laid him down in the Shell Razor.

"What happened?" Raph growled as he sat up. Casey followed suit, shaking his head to clear the cobwebs, but only succeeding in giving himself a headache.

"Explanations later, dudes," Mikey said, "We gotta scram, like, now."

Taking the hint, they all piled into the Shell Razor that was parked nearby. Leo took the wheel and peeled out of the parking lot.

"What now?" Raph demanded, glancing at Donnie who was laid out on the floor, Mikey was cradling his head in his lap, keeping him steady in the constantly shifting van.

"Hyper-April is after the Shock Rock," Leo said. "We've got to get to it before she does."

"What does she want that thing for?"

"I don't know, but it can't be good."

"This is all that things fault!" Casey declared, angry. "That rock did this to her in the first place!"

"So we make sure it can't do anymore damage," Leo said.

"How are we gonna do that?" Raph said, "If you didn't notice, she kicked our shells, and we're down a fighter too." They all looked down at Donnie, laying prone in Mikey's lap. He still hadn't stirred.

"What's wrong with him?" Mikey asked in a small voice. "Why won't he wake up?"

Leo grit his teeth and tightened his grip on the steering wheel. "First things first," he said, forming a plan. "We need to get to the Shock Rock before she does. We can figure out what to do after that."

 **Oo-oO**

"Damn tunnels! Why are they so complicated?" the girl exclaimed as she found herself once again at an unfamiliar intersection deep in the New York City sewers. This was taking too long, and she could feel herself weakening by the minute. She needed to find this place soon. She reached into her mind again and confirmed the location of the Shock Rock—

"No, no, it's called the Shard," she reminded herself mid-thought. "And if I could only find this Railroad Bunker—"

 _You'll never find it!_

"Ugh," she sighed at the voice in her head, "The damsel in distress speaks out. You must be getting some control back to be able to do that. . . either that or I've grown weaker than I realized."

 _I'm stronger than you give me credit for._

"Believe me, I know your limits. I've watched you grow your whole life."

 _What? How is that possible? Just who are you?_

"That, my dear princess, is a topic for another time. Now I've got to find this Shard before I loose my hold on you—Dammit!" Another dead end. She looked around at her bleak surroundings. "I don't suppose _you_ know where this 'Underground Railroad Bunker' is?"

 _Why would I tell you?_

"You wouldn't, because you can't. You don't know where it is."

 _Then why bother asking?_

"Just making conversation."

 _With a voice in your head?_

"I never said I was sane. Oh, come on!" Another tunnel led to another intersection with more dripping pipes and gooey walkways. "Why didn't I get directions? I mean, I thought I knew these sewers well enough, but _no_ , they just had to find the one place we've never been to before and hide the damn thing in a secret bunker that hasn't been found in over a hundred years!"

The voice in her head was silent, as if mocking her. She examined her surroundings and took stock of what little she knew about the area the Shard was supposed to be hidden in.

 _Tap tap tap tap._

Lost in thought, she failed to hear the echo of footsteps off the dripping sewer walls until it was too late.

"Damn, they've caught up." She spun around, facing the direction of the footsteps that were nearly upon her. She readied herself the best she could in her weakened state.

 _Tap tap ta—slide._

But it wasn't the Turtles who were coming to rescue their princess. She stared in shock at the figure covered in muck and sweat that skidded around a bend and came screeching to a halt. The boy was breathing heavily, and was just as startled to have suddenly come across her as she was to see him. But she was startled for a different reason; she recognized him.

The two stared at each other for a moment before she started laughing.

"Now what sort of development is this?" the two-toned voice asked the boy before her. "The quiet new kid from school? Seems like there's more to this story than I originally thought. Jay . . . Cogen, was it?"

"In this world, it is," Jay responded, "But identities can be fleeting, like yours. You aren't April O'Neil."

"Very good," she inspected him more closely. "And how did you come to such conclusions?"

"It's not hard to see that this is more than just a bad hair day."

"Indeed," she fingered a tangled strand of white hair that fell into her face. "But that still doesn't answer my question. Who . . . no, _what_ are you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," Jay answered.

"I would actually," she replied with a knowing smirk. "Since asking you won't get me anywhere . . ."

 _Who is he?_

. . . Data Retrieved: Profile found. Subject name: Jay Cogen. Adolescent youth born in Manitoba, Canada. Graduated elementary school from—Transmission terminated.

"No! I don't want his damn life history, just tell me what he is!" she burst out at the infernal program feeding her information.

"It can't be. . ." Jay said under his breath as he recognized what was happening.

. . . Data Retrieved: Profile found. Subject name: Marrow Fog. Planet of origin: Delttra Prone. Current occupation: Guardian of the Third Shard of Light. Transmission terminated.

"Guardian. . ." she muttered and looked at the boy in a new light.

"Why do you have the Index?" he demanded. "Where is the Shard?!"

"Index? Is that what that thing's called?"

"What have you done with her!"

"Her?"

"Return the Shard, before things get out of hand."

She smirked at this. "Kid, things are already out of hand."

His shoulders seemed to have slumped just a fraction, but it wasn't in defeat. Jay relaxed his tense muscles and regained his composure. Taking deep breaths, he gathered his thoughts and focused. He felt the familiar tingle in his fingertips that he hadn't felt in so long.

"I give you one chance," Jay's voice was quiet and void of emotion. "Hand over the Shard, or I will forcefully take it from you."

She was put off by the sudden change in atmosphere, but she didn't let it show. "What can you do? You're just a weak human boy."

"I am a Guardian. And I will protect the Shard until the Light comes to claim what is rightfully hers."

"Well, you've done a bang up job on that so far."

"Where is it?"

"I'm not telling," she sang, taunting.

Jay looked into her glowing, yellow eyes, the same yellow as the Shard, and he realized the truth. "You don't know."

She visibly flinched at this. Her arms flared with a yellow light, her hair seemed to glow ghostly white, and her eyes flashed with a mix of emotions.

"You don't know, but you're looking for it. It's somewhere in the tunnels," Jay put the pieces together. "You didn't manage to steal all of her power. That's why it's been so hard to track you, why it felt so different. It was incomplete. You mixed your own telepathic abilities with strength from the Shard to create this dark, overbearing presence that I've been feeling these last few days. You stole a fragment of the Shard's power, and somehow managed to get the Index. . ." He wasn't even really talking to her anymore, he was really only voicing his thoughts as he worked through the problem. And now he took a better look at the twisted girl before him. "But how did that happen? She isn't stupid enough to reveal herself to anyone, not even . . . I mean, she wouldn't have. Would she?"

"Enough!" Yellow light flared as glowing tendrils shot out catching the Guardian off guard. Tendrils closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye, wrapping around his arms and torso, causing him to stumble ever so slightly, but he quickly regained his balance.

"What are you doing?" he asked in exasperation as he eyed the tendrils bound to his arm.

"I'm disposing of an annoyance," she replied with a sick smile. "Your time as a Guardian is over. It's my turn to have some fun with the Shard."

"You really think that you can beat me with the Shard's power? Especially when it's this weak?" The question seemed to put her off, but she redoubled her efforts and the tendrils tightened around her captive.  
"Don't underestimate me," she growled.

"You're the one who's underestimating me," he replied before the tendrils simply dissipated. The glowing yellow strings diffused into the dark underground tunnels until nothing was left.

"What?" she exclaimed in confusion.

"The Shard's power will not hurt its Guardian," he replied. "I thought you would have known that, since you stole the Index and everything."

"Impossible!"

"It's really not," he flexed his hands, the tingling wanting to be released after being latent for so long.

"You can't defeat me!" she yelled and grasped her head between her hands, doubling over. The air seemed to pulse from her forehead as a wave of psychic energy was released and sent as a direct assault into the Guardian's mind.

He grunted and fell onto one knee as he struggled against her hold.

"The yellow light may not affect you," she said approaching the downed Guardian, "but your still no match for my psychic abilities."

She was strong, but her power was weakened. He was well versed in mental defenses, but even in its weakened state, this power was raw and unrefined, wild and untamed. It was pure and dark and angry. He couldn't even fathom where such a power could have originated from, but thoughts like that would have to wait. He was losing his grip on himself, he had to act before he was overwhelmed. While she wouldn't be able to actually take control of his mind, she certainly had the power to knock him out.

"You are nothing," the twisted girl smirked as the two overlaying voices echoed around the tunnels and Jay fought off her mental assault.

The desperate situation called forth his powers, and his tingling power strengthened until sparks jumped between adjacent fingers.

"Don't think me beaten yet," he shot back and raised a hand. Pure, bright, yellow electricity jumped from his fingers and arced into her chest.

She screamed at the sudden attack and was flung back. She slid on the ground until she fell into the raw sewage that surrounded them. With goo and muck dripping from her form she hulled herself out of the small canal before sprawling out on the ground.

The air rippled with the energy that the Guardian still kept in check, the tingling bite of electricity buzzing on his skin, and the elation of having released his powers after hiding for so long fresh in his system.

He was breathing hard after having to stave off a mental attack before delivering his own, and he stood panting for a few moments before he approached the still form of the girl who had once been April O'Neil. She was still conscious, her white hair marred by brown glop, the glow from her arms extinguished, and her eyes flickered with what little hold she had over the Shard's power.

"Just as the Shard's power cannot hurt me," the Guardian explained as he stood over her, "nor can my power harm the Shard. You hold a fragment of the Shard, so the effects were not as strong. Now, tell me what you know."

"Jay?" a small voice sounded from the lips of the girl. The voice was different than it was before; the familiar, single-toned voice that belonged to the girl he met on his first day of high school in New York City.

"April?" Jay breathed in relief. "You're back, you've taken control."

"For now," she struggled to sit up, and Jay quickly helped her, supporting her back. "But I can still feel it. It's fighting back . . ." She gripped her head in her hands again in her silent battle for her own mind.

"We need to find the Shard," Jay said pulling her to her feet. "Then we can figure this whole thing out. Do you know where she is?"

"I . . . I don't know," she admitted. "Let me call the guys, they're the ones who . . . Oh, no. What did I do?" She reached into her pocket and pulled out her T-Phone from a soaked pocket. "Please be okay."

Jay watched her in concern. Obviously something had happened, but this wasn't the time for that. They had to find the Shard and fix this whole thing once and for all.

Without warning, a pulse so strong erupted from a source not too far away. The strength of it caused Jay to lose his breath for a moment as the familiar sense rushed over him, and he felt relief. Finally, something he could actually follow.

After a few moments he spent gathering his breath again, a smile crept up his face and he looked over to April who had a look of shock on her face.

"What was that?" Apparently she had felt it too. Not surprising, considering the psychic powers she held within her.

"That was the Shard," Jay said with a smile before grabbing her arm and pulling her in the direction the pulse had come from. "And I know exactly where she is."

* * *

 **A/N:** Man, that was close. Looks like I managed to escape from the monster long enough to post this. It's really hungry now. Unless it's fed, I don't know if I'll be able to post more! Save the damsel in distress! Feed the Review box!


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N** : . . . Oops. Been a while. Sorry for the wait, but I'm finally free from the monster called school! With summer break comes extra hours at work and plenty of time to dream. So, here I give you the next chapter that you've been awaiting.

You may want to re-read some earlier chapters if you don't quite remember what's happening. It sort of jumps right into it from where it left off.

* * *

Chapter 8

"Where exactly did you guys hide this thing?" Casey wondered aloud as he picked his way down the un-kept sewer tunnel that was forgotten years ago.

"Underground Railroad bunker," Leo explained as they came up to the supply room.

"Under-who what now?"

"Would you just—" Raph pushed him through the door and into the cramped space.

"You hid it in a supply closet?" Casey eyed the place wearily before Mikey stepped up.

"Allow me," he said and with a flourishing hand, not unlike the last time, he revealed the secret tunnel.

"Wicked!" Casey exclaimed before taking off down the tunnel.

Raph rolled his eyes and followed behind the others, making sure to keep his senses open for any approaching threat.

"This place is awesome! It's like, totally secret and stuff," Casey spun to take in the whole of the secret bunker.

"I know right," Mikey boasted, "I totally found this place. It wasn't the rat, it was me." He stood with hands on his hips, head tilted up and a proud look on his face that caused Leo to roll his eyes and Raph to groan in annoyance.

"Let's just get this thing and get out of here," Raph said.

Leo knelt down and removed the secret panel to reveal the safe that Donnie had installed what seemed like a life time ago, but was actually only the night before. With a spin of the dial, the lock clicked open and Leo swung open the door.

Sitting nestled in a ragged cloth, the Shock Rock sat innocently. . . or not so innocently. As the safe door opened, the Shock Rock began to glow, much like it had when April had touched before a wave of light pulsed out with a bright yellow flash.

 **Oo-oO**

 _AAAAAAAHHHHHH! Freaking Finally!_

The Shard let out a whoop of excitement as something finally happened. The stupid box was open and she accidently sent out a shock wave in her excitement. Not too subtle, mind you, but after spending hours alone in a small cramped box with nothing to do but count the number of fungal spores floating around (she counted 348), she extended her senses and reveled in the ability to feel something other than cold metal that didn't even allow her radiation to penetrate.

"The heck was that?"

 _Voices! Glorious sound_.

She probed into the small room and immediately recognized two of the four life-forms nearby. The one who spoke was the human, the wild one not the compatible one. The other one she recognized was the Warrior from earlier, the one that wasn't in her database, like the Donnie-life form. A sort-of Testudine.

 _Where is the Donnie guy? He was fun._

She examined the other life-forms and was surprised to find that they were also not-Testudines, and that none of them were the Donnie-life form.

 _Lame._

"Was that supposed to hurt?" Drawn back out of her thoughts, the Shard examined the mentality of these new almost-Testudines. This one that spoke seemed simple, like the Wild human, but more childish. His mind was flitting from one thought to another, with a vivid imagination and an odd addiction to food and animals . . . and animals made out of food?

 _He seems almost as fun as the Donnie-life form._

"I don't like it," the other almost-Testudine said, "this _thing_ has caused us nothing but trouble. Let's just hurry up and get rid of it."

 _Excuse me?! Who are you calling_ thing _?_

The Shard examined the final life-form and almost pulled back from the sheer amount of anger it radiated. It was angry, and suspicious, and . . . worried?

 _Hmm . . . Oh, they're brothers. He's worried about . . . Donnie? He's not here because something happened. Something to do with me? What did I do? I've been trapped in a box for who knows how long!_

"Hurry," the Warrior said as he carefuly picked up the Shard, making sure to hold the ragged cloth and not make direct contact.

 _I'm not gonna bite._

"So . . ." the Fun one drawled out. "What do we do with it now?"

"I don't know," the Warrior answered as they started running. The Shard tried to figure out what was going on, but extending one's senses didn't work very well while in motion, too easy to get left behind or dragged away unsuspectingly, so the Shard contented with buckling down for the ride.

 **Oo-oO**

"Come on," Leo called back to the rest of the group as they took to the tunnels again, "it's not that much farther to the Shell Razor."

He rounded a corner and slid to a stop as he took in the figures a short distance away. He cursed his inattention, he should have noticed that they weren't alone. He should have stayed vigilant, he knew that Hyper April was wandering around these tunnels, and it seems like he just brought her exactly what she was looking for.

He drew a katana and clutched the bundle tucked under his arm that held the Shock Rock. He fell into a defensive stance as one of the people, a boy, raised a hand in response. The two watched each other warily, but the stare off was short lived as the others caught up with their leader and an overly excited Michelangelo couldn't quite stop in time and blue and orange crashed to the ground.

"Moron," Leo heard Raph mutter as he pushed his little brother off and tried to regain his stance and some dignity.

"Guys," April's voice filtered through his thoughts. "You're alright! Thank God." The boy gave her a look of surprise and lowered his hand.

"Wait, Jay?" Casey asked from somewhere behind him, "Is that you?"

The boy started and his eyes fell on Casey. He kept a guarded look as he nodded. Then his gaze zeroed in on the bundle in Leo's arms and he visibly relaxed.

Leo watched him, not dropping his guard, and adjusted his stance to block the boy's view of his package. "You know him?" He asked Casey over his shoulder."

"Yeah, from school," Casey explained. "New kid, showed up a few days ago."

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" Leo asked the boy, "With _her_?" Leo turned his eyes towards to girl who wasn't who she appeared to be.

April, in turn, stepped forward with one hand on her chest. "Leo, it's me." She stepped into the dull light shinning through a grate in the tunnel and that's when he noticed. Her hair wasn't completely white, her eyes didn't glow, heck, she didn't even have the creepy two-toned voice. It was just April talking.

"April?" Leo asked hopefully, his katana lowered to the ground and she smiled at him. "You're back! What happened?"

"April!" Mikey exclaimed from where he still sat on the ground. He sprang up and virtually teleported to April's side, engulfing her in a hug.

"Heh heh, Mikey!" She giggled as he spun her around.

The reunion was cut short when the package still tucked protectively under Leo's arm started to glow.

"What?" He said, holding the thing out in front of him, the cloth slipping off a bit showing pulsing yellow veins.

"Great," Raph huffed, "now what's the thing doing?"

"Knock it off! Are you trying to bring a whole Battalion down on us!" The boy spoke for the first time and the Shock Rock's glow immediately cut off. The others looked at him in surprise and confusion. In fact, Leo didn't know whether it was the fact that he was talking to a rock, or that the rock listened to him. What got him even more was that, after a few moments of awkard silence, he continued talking to it.

"Yes, they're here. I don't know how, but they've found us. No thanks to _you_."

More silence, as if he was listening to a reply.

"Unbeleivable," Jay muttered, shaking his head. He turned his attention to the others, "We need to move before they track us here. That pulse most likely alerted everyone in town who's looking for her."

"They can track us?" Raph exclaimed.

"They can track the Shard," the boy clarified.

"The what?"

"The Shock Rock," April jumped in.

"Shock Rock?"

"Oh, never mind what it's called," Leo interrupted, getting annoyed at the direction of the conversation. "We're not going anywhere until someone explains what the heck is going on!"

The boy took a deep breath before speaking again, this time in a quiet, even voice. "They are coming here, right now, and it's in our best interest to not be here when they arrive. We need to stay hidden."

"Who are _they_?" Leo asked, holding the boy's gaze.

"Well, the Tagoo's for one, but there's gonna be bigger guys in play soon."

"What's a Tagoo?" Mikey asked.

"Those little alien things from before? The ones with the noses?" April asked. "You mean there's more of them?!"

"You ran into some?" Jay asked, "How many?"

"I don't know," April scrunched up her face, "There were two groups of them that just came out of no where."

"Two squadrons. That still leaves another three plus their commander. But who knows what kind of reinforcements they've called in by now."

"Who are these people?" Leo asked, "What do they want?"

"Explanations later, please," Jay said. "We need to get out of here."

"Where can we go?" Raph spoke up. "You said they can track us, right?"

"As long as _someone_ stays quiet," Jay looked pointedly at the Shock Rock, "we should be alright. For now."

Leo glanced down at the Shock Rock craddeled in his arm wearily before looking over at this kid who came out of no where, but seems to have all the answers. With a sigh, Leo shealthed his katana before nodding down the tunnel. "The Shell Razor's not far. Then I want explanations."

 **Oo-oO**

"Oh my gosh, Donnie!" April fell next to her friend who still lay unconscious on the floor of the Shell Razor. She buried her face in her hands, "This is all my fault."

"What happened," Jay asked, taking in the scene.

"I'm not really sure," April admitted, "It was when . . . when that _thing_ took over."

Jay nodded and she continued.

"We were in Donnie's mind and there were these gates, and it wanted Donnie to open them but he wouldn't. He tried to fight it, but nothing was landing, then it caught him and . . . and . . ."

Jay glanced over to the Shock Rock again before understanding. "It stole his Soul Key and locked him in."

"Run that by us again," Raph said jolting the boy out of his thoughts.

"The . . . whatever it is that took over April," Jay explained slowly,

"You mean," Mikey interrupted, "the Hyper part of Hyper April?"

"Ugh," Raph groaned. Jay watched in interaction and decided to just go with it.

"Okay then . . . This Hyper, seems to have some sort of psychic abilities that were amplified when it stole a fragment of the Shard's power." At this, he glared at the Shock Rock again.

"Stole?"

"Yes, _stole_ ," Jay grimaced.

"How does that even work?"

"I don't know. Let's ask, shall we?" Jay once again turned to the Shock Rock. "Kape, how did it manage to steal, not only a fragment of your essence, _Light's_ essence, but the Index as well?"

"Dude, he keeps talking to the Shock Rock," Mikey whispered to Casey, "It's starting to freak me out."

"Is the Shock Rock, like, alive or something?" Casey asked.

"In a broad sense of the word," Jay mused. "But I guess I should introduce you. You have been looking after her, right?"

"If by looking after, you mean locking the thing in a box in a hidden bunker in the deepest part of the New York sewers," Raph said, "then yeah. We've been taking _good_ care of it."

"You have no idea how many times I've wanted to do that," Jay muttered. He held his hands out towards Leo, who still had the Shock Rock tucked in his arms. Leo eyed the boy wearily, not entirely sure if he should be this trusting of someone he just met. In the end, his curiosity won out, and he reluctantly handed over the burden that had caused them so much grief.

Jay sighed in relief as he finally touched the Shard. The rock let gave off a soft yellow glow that radiated through his hands and filled him with a power that had been fading in its absence. Shard and Guardian finally reunited.

The others watched as the ragged cloth fell away from the Shock Rock, exposing the pulsing yellow veins that glowed brighter as Jay ran his hand over its surface with a smile. As the glow got brighter, his hands and forearms started glowing too, similar to what happened with April, but this seemed more natural. Somehow it felt right.

The glowing veins started to move as the glow intensified, and they slowly lifted away from the Rock's surface and danced around in their newfound freedom. They stretched and weaved around each other until they formed a solid, humanoid figure only about a foot tall. The glow faded until a golden girl floated in the air above the Shock Rock, but still attached by wriggling veins of yellow light.

"This is Kape," Jay broke the silent awe that encompassed the small space inside the van. "She is one of the Seven Shards of Light, and I am her Guardian."

 **Oo-oO**

"Great Flak almighty," the golden girl exclaimed, stretching her miniature arms above her head. "It feels good to be out."

"The Shock Rock is a girl!" Mikey exclaimed a little too loudly in the small space.

"Actually, I prefer Sentient Light of Superior Intelligence," Kape replied.

"Senti-what?" Mikey tried to repeat.

"Please don't get her started," Jay warned.

"Well, lookit you," Kape turned toward her Guardian, scrutinizing him. "The Vacuum sure did a number on you."

"Tell me about it," Jay muttered.

"Okay, okay," Leo jumped in, "Can we please stay on track here. . . Thank you. Now, first things first, what's wrong with Donnie?"

"He's been locked inside his mind," the girl answered bluntly.

"Locked in—wait, what?" Raph tried to process this, "How does that even happen?"

"Someone stole his Soul Key," Jay answered. At the confused, skeptical looks, the golden girl continued.

"Alright, here's where I may lose some of you. So, the mind is a complex phenomenon that works on an entirely different plane of existence," she started, making note of who was actually listening, who was understanding, and who wasn't even bothering to try. "It's through this other plane, the Mental Plane as some call it, that the mind can connect with the soul. But as intricate and powerful that the mind is, it can be vulnerable to outside attacks. In defence, the mind has built walls to protect itself. These walls can be strengthened through practice and training. It seems like the almost-Testudines are well versed in such practices."

"Testudines?" Raph mumbled, but the girl either didn't hear to chose to ignore.

"But it _is_ possible for an assailant to break through these walls. And once they are broken, they cannot be restored. As a result, both mind and soul will never be the same. In some cases of extreme damage, the mind can be completely destroyed and the host doesn't live much longer after that."

"Wait! Are you saying there's nothing we can do!" Mikey exclaimed. "Ow!"

"Shut up and listen," Raph said after he whacked him upside the head.

"If his walls were broken, then no. There would be nothing anyone could do," Kape said simply. "But his walls are as strong as yours." She inspected the remaining turtles. "And you would be hard pressed to find someone strong enough to breaking through such walls. You all must have worked hard in training your minds."

"So if his walls aren't broken," Raph hurried her along, "then what's wrong? Why hasn't he woken up?"

"There is another way to gain access into someone's mind," she answered.

"Soul Key . . ." Leo mumbled. "You mentioned a Soul Key, or something."

"That's right," she nodded, "as the mind connects to the soul to carry out its bidding, so does the soul protect the key to the minds gates. What happened to . . . it was Donnie, right? What happened to Donnie here is this Hyper thing ripped out his Soul Key and locked his soul inside his mind's walls. Without his Soul Key, he cannot open his mind's gates, and he cannot escape."

"So what do we do?" Leo asked. "How do we get him back?"

"To get _him_ back," Kape said, "we get his Soul Key back."

"You make it sound so simple," Raph rolled his eyes then stopped to think for a moment. "Is it that simple?"

"It's possible," the girl glanced at her Guardian who nodded in agreement. "But we can do it, with a little help." At this she looked at April.

"Wait, me too?" April asked.

"Well, you're the one who has his Soul Key," the girl rolled her eyes.

"What? I didn't take it!"

"No, but the Hyper did, and it's still inside you," Jay took over the explanation. "It's weakened from overusing its powers, but you should still be able to feel it in the back of your mind."

"Now that you mention it," April placed a hand on her head.

"So how do we get something from April's head into Donnie's?" Leo asked.

"We just need to synch everyone with the Mental Plane. As long as everyone's in contact in the Physical Plane, we can link up with everyone's minds in the same space."

"Why do I get the feeling that this isn't as simple as it sounds," Raph said.

"Because it's not," Jay said. "This sort of thing takes decades to master. Diving into the Mental Plane is dangerous and if you stray in too far, you can lose your way and never find the path back to the Physical Plane."

"Great," Raph drawled. "So what this any _less_ dangerous."

"Because I've taken decades to master it. That, and I'm not exactly normal people," the golden girl replied. "I know what I'm doing. I can guide everyone through the Mental Plane and back to the Physical Plane."

"Are you okay with this April?" Leo asked, turning to April. She was still on her knees, cradling Donnie's unmoving head in her lap. She stared into his expressionless face with growing determination.

"It's my fault he's like this," she said with that characteristic determination entering her voice. "It's my turn to save him for a change." She smiled up at her friends. "I'll bring him back."

"I like this chick," Kape said to Jay. "No wonder she's compatible."

"Yes, thanks for reminding me about that," he lowered himself onto the ground on the other side of Donnie. "But we'll talk about that after we fix this mess."

At her sheepish expression, he held out the Shard over Donnie's prone form with one hand, he placed the other on his head. April caught on and mimicked his pose, cupping the Shock Rock in one hand and Donnie's head in the other.

"Just stay close," Jay said. "Kape'll guide us through." April nodded.

"Everyone ready," the golden girl asked, her floating form starting to waver above the Shard as the yellow veins started breaking up.

"Ready," April said.

Jay nodded.

"Let's role." Kape's form dissolved as the wiggling veins merged back with the Rock's surface. The yellow glow brightened as the veins invaded the hands that held it and flowed down the arms. Jay's and April's eyes flared a golden yellow as the Shard's power passed through their body, carrying their soul's with it into the Mental Plane.

* * *

 **A/N** : Back into Donnie's head. Almost like we've come full circle. As for future postings, I'm thinking about holding off until I've finished the whole thing then posting it all at once. What do you guys think? Post all at once or as I finish them?


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Dark.

Everything was dark.

She couldn't see. Can't see!

It's just like when the Hyper took over.

 _Is it happening again? Am I stuck here? Oh God, I can't see!_

Strings of yellow light appeared, swirling around her and the panic faded.

"Kape?" April called out, the darkness sucking up the sound. "Is that you?"

"Welcome to the Mental Plane," the strings of light hummed.

"Where's Jay?"

"Over here," he emerged from the dark, guided by strings of light that twirled around him and swam in front, showing him the way.

"Good, we're all here," some of the strings of light mingled around each other as Jay stepped up beside April. They swirling around the humans, protecting them from the darkness of the Mental Plane. "Now stay close, don't want to be getting lost in here. Trust me, it's a nightmare trying to get out."

"These last few days have been a nightmare," April muttered.

A few strings flitted ahead, scouting out a path while the others circled around the two humans. They followed the scouting strings and set a swift pace through the darkness.

"I expected there to be more," April said, breaking the silence.

"Hmm?" Jay glanced over, pulled from his own thoughts.

"It's just, there's nothing here. Just a black void."

"The Mental Plane gives form to the minds that are connected to it. Right now that's me, you and your friend."

"What about Kape?"

"Kape is different. She doesn't work the same way we do. She doesn't really have a physical body, so she doesn't need a mind to work as a link between body and soul. Her soul is enough to control her . . . essence, I guess you'd call it."

"Are you talking about me behind my back," the light hummed.

"You don't have a back," Jay said bluntly.

"Touché." One of the strings flicked him and he rolled his eyes. "There they are," Kape said suddenly.

April turned her attention back to the blackness ahead and gaped at what she saw.

Two sets of gates loomed in front of them, facing each other, and seeming to have come out of nowhere. One set she recognized from the last time she was on the Mental Plane. The strong metal bars crossing like the entrance to a grand estate, sturdy and firm, blocking entrance to all those who didn't belong with the shadows of rows of books and computers laying beyond.

"Those are Donnie's gates!" she exclaimed pointing to the set on the left.

"And those are yours," Jay said inspecting the other set. They were a lot less impressive than he thought they would be. A simple wooden fence with a simply locked wooden gate. It would be like walking into someone's backyard rather than their mind. It spoke of the innocence that it protected, the little girl that would play out in the yard without a care in the world. But at that moment, the little girl wasn't paying attention to her own set of gates.

"Donnie!" April yelled and ran forward.

"April, wait!" Jay reached for her but missed. The strings of light lagged behind at her sudden take off, but quickly caught up and swirled around her angrily for a moment.

"Don't do that!" The light scolded. "I told you to stay close. It may not be far, but it's too easy to get lost in here."

"Yeah, yeah, sorry," April said half-heartedly, trying to look around to swirling lights and into the space behind the gates. There were rows of computers and book shelves, just like the last time she saw it, but this time there was something new. "Donnie!"

"April?" A voice asked from behind the gate, before Donnie's form appeared behind bars. "Is that you?"

"Donnie!" April cried in relief as she pushed past the stings of light and ran up to grasp the bars. Her eyes fell to the spot on his chest, where she now knew was the spot where the Hyper ripped out his Soul Key. There was a dark hole where his heart should be, but it wasn't clear. More out of focus, with some sort of haze surrounding it, making it hard to look at. Her thoughts drifted back to the moment when the Hyper had him strung up and he tried to fight back, but then the tendril drove into—

She blinked, and was back in front of the gates. "Are you alright?" She managed to ask.

"Yeah, I think so. Freaking out a little," he chuckled nervously, tapping his fingers against the bars that separated them. "Since you're here and all, you know, wherever _here_ is, you mind telling me, i-if you could . . ." he paused a moment before spazing out. "What the heck is going on?!"

"Right," April sighed and collected her thoughts. How to go about this? "Well, right now, you're sort of locked in your own mind because the Hyper stole you Soul Key, but it's weakened now so we have to go into _my_ mind to, find it, and get your Soul Key back so we can unlock your gates and go back to the Physical Plane."

Donnie blinked and just sort of stared.

". . . Right," he drolled out after a few moments of silence and tried to process this. "Sorry, one more time."

"That thing that was in control on my body, the black mist guy that locked you in there, that's the Hyper. When it . . ." April stuttered here. "What the Hyper took from you, that was your Soul Key."

"Soul Key?" he asked skeptically.

"Oh, I'm no good at this," April said, drilling her palms into her forehead in frustration.

"The Soul Key is the only thing that will open the gates to one's mind," Jay intervened, stepping forward.

"Oh hey," Donnie said, noticing the other, "look at that, you brought a friend."

"Donnie, this is Jay," April introduced. "He's here to help."

"What about me?" the light hummed again.

"Oh geez," Donnie jumped back as the yellow strings swirled around closer, "aren't those the lights that the Hyper thing was using?"

"What!?" the light exclaimed. "It was using my lights!"

"That's Kape," April reassured. "She's . . . actually, I don't really know what she is, but she's what's inside the Shard."

"Shard—oh right, the Shock Rock. Wait, it's sentient? I knew it!"

"Yes, and I'm not an _it_ ," the light swirled. "Anyways, time's a wasting and we need to get moving."

"Wait, you're just going to leave me here?" Donnie exclaimed.

"Not entirely," Jay said.

"I'll keep a fragment of myself here to answer your questions," Kape said and a single string of light separated itself from the others and entwined itself around the bars of the gate. "It's best we don't spend too long here. Come on you two."

The winding strings of light weaved their way through the space up to the other set of gates. Donnie watched the two humans go, walking towards the white picket fence that looked as threatening as Ice Cream Kitty. He suddenly had a bad feeling about this whole thing.

"Okay, just one more time," he turned to the talking yellow light twisted in the bars that locked him in. "What the heck is going on?"

 **Oo-oO**

"These are my gates?" April wondered as she approached the innocent little fence that stood a little higher than her waist. "Doesn't look very strong."

"Doesn't always look strong, but doesn't mean that it isn't," Jay explained. "If anything, it's the strongest part of your defence."

"But why a flimsy fence," she nudged it with her foot and it squeaked in protest.

"Who knows," Jay shrugged. "Like I said, the mind is a complex phenomenon. Not much makes sense in here."

"If you say so," April said. "So, how do we get in?"

"You've got the Soul Key," Kape hummed. "It's your mind, you just need to open it."

April eyed the little white fence before peering beyond. Beyond the gate was a dark mist, but she thought she could make out shadows, like tall poles or trees looming up from the ground. It was so different from Donnie's strong gates and library filled with computers and other gadgets.

She felt a little nervous as she stepped up to the wooden gate and laid a hand on the latch. She felt a pulse run through her chest and a flash from her hand snapped the lock open and the little wooden gate creaked open. April turned to look at Jay before she ventured through the gates and into her own mind.

Jay followed close behind, the lock clicked back into place as the gate creaked shut.

"Ready?" He asked, turning back to April. She was staring off into the dark misty fog that encompassed her mind, trying to make out the forms of the shadows that lingered within.

She took a breath and squared her shoulders. "Ready."

"Alright," Kape hummed and a few strings of light flitted forward. "Follow me, stay close, and we'll have your friend's Soul Key back before you know it."

 **Oo-oO**

Trees.

There _were_ trees behind April's gates. But there were other things too. Pillars, tubes, poles, towers. All tall structures that loomed above them, made up of various materials. Wood, plastic, glass, metal. But there was a haze around everything that didn't quite let you see more than a dozen or so feet in any direction. Every now and then, flashes of a disturbingly familiar pink light ran up and down the towering structures and off into the unknown.

"This is my mind?" April wondered aloud, taking it all in. "What's with all the towers?"

"They're transcribers," Jay explained as they followed the flitting strings. "They receive and send out signals to other parts of you mind that, in turn, control your body. Each person's mind manifests them differently. Best not to mess with them."

April watched as one of the pink flashes zipped by her feet and buzz up what looked like a telephone pole made of glass. After a few moments, another flash erupted from the glass telephone pole and rushed off to another tower that was lost in the haze but somehow resembled the Eiffel Tower.

She stumbled when she realized that she was falling behind and picked up her pace to catch up. As she drew level with Jay again, another pink flash darted by. Or at lease, she thought it would just dart by.

"Look out!" April yelled when she realized that the flash of pink energy was headed directly for Jay.

The strings that circled around Jay reacted instantly, they twisted around each other and formed a disk in front of him like a shield. The pink flash smashed against the yellow disk and disappeared. As the pink light faded, the yellow disk loosened and resumed it string form and once again circled lazily around Jay, who didn't seem fazed by the sudden attack in the least.

"What was that!" April demanded.

"Defense system," Jay said calmly and continued walking. "Like the immune system, attacking any foreign bodies that it detects."

"You mean this is going to keep happening?"

"To me. You hold the Soul Key, so it won't attack you. But don't worry, Kape can fend off any attacks easily."

To emphasize the point, another pink flash shot towards Jay. Kape formed the yellow disk again, and the pink flash disappeared just as quickly as the last.

"See?" Jay said.

"Yeah," April breathed and hugged herself, feeling like they weren't supposed to be in here.

They walked a little more in silence, weaving their way between the towering structures that seemed to repeat themselves endlessly and April wondered how they were ever going to be able to find their way out. She glanced back the way they came and felt a thread of anxiety weave into her chest when all she saw was a haze blocking the way back to the gates, blocking the way back out.

She suddenly felt claustrophobic, like the towers were far too close together and they were about to fall at any moment and crush them all . . .

She picked up her pace and moved closer to Jay. "You sure you know where we're going?" she asked eyeing the towers nervously.

"Kape knows what she's doing," Jay said in a reassuring tone, keeping his gaze fixed on the path ahead.

"It's just weird," she said as she watched a pink flash travel up a tube filled with a bubbly green liquid before a response shot off towards a white tree with shinning blue leaves. "We're in _my_ mind, but I feel so foreign, like I don't belong here."

"Connecting a soul to the Mental Plane and directly interacting with the mind isn't natural," Jay explained. "It only makes sense that it doesn't _feel_ natural. Doesn't help that this feeling is more intense when it's your own mind you're connecting with. There are some things the body knows that the soul shouldn't and vice versa. Putting both soul and body together isn't supposed to feel right."

"What do you mean, there are some things the soul and body shouldn't know?"

"Oh, let's see . . . emotions, for one. Happiness, sadness, anger, love. These are things that the soul deals with. Meanwhile, the five senses, for example touch; soft, hard, hot, cold . . . pain. Theses are things the body deals with. The soul can't process pain the same way the body can't process love. If that makes sense."

"Hmm . . ." April thought over what she'd just learned.

"It's close," Kape's voice snapped her out of her thoughts and back to the present. "I can feel the Hyper nearby."

April came to a stop and suddenly felt nervous. The last time she faced this thing, it chained her up and hurt Donnie and there was nothing she could do to it, and not for lack of trying.

"Let me guess," Jay drawled, "it's in the big one."

"You're getting good at guessing," Kape hummed. "Now, come on." Several strings flitted ahead, urging the party to start moving again.

April peered into the dark haze and made out where they were going. There was one tower that was bigger and taller than the rest. It was made out of a light, shiny metal and had veins of pink energy snaking upwards. April froze as she recognized the distinct Kraang architecture. She flinched as a pink flash generated at the top of the tower, raced down and disappeared into the dark haze.

"What the heck is a Kraang base doing inside my head!?" April exclaimed.

"Kraang?" Jay questioned.

"You mean the guys who's only thought is to dominate everything?" Kape hummed. "Interesting. Why would your mind's nexus manifest as something from an alien race? Do you have some sort of connection to the—Oh! Yeah, that would do it."

"What? What is it?" April demanded.

"Donnie-boy said you're a human-Kraang hybrid," Kape said. "If you have genetic ties to these guys, then it only makes sense that you would have some sort of representation in your mind. But for it to be your nexus . . ."

"Hold on," April held her hands up to stop her. "First off, how are you talking to Donnie?"

"Hm? Oh, I'm still connected to the fragment of myself that I left behind with him," Kape explained. "It comes in handy sometimes, being in more than one place at a time. Can be a pain to do on the Physical Plane though."

"So you're talking to him right now?"

"More like I'm trying to talk and he won't listen because he's freaking out. Seriously, if I didn't know we were on the Mental Plane, I'd swear his head is about to pop."

"Okay, okay, okay," April said. "And what about this 'nexus'?"

"The control center of the mind," Jay jumped in. "It sends out signals to the transcribers that relay commands to the body."

"Okay," April placing her hands on either side of her face. "And the Hyper is inside the nexus?"

"Seems like it," Kape hummed. "I mean, if there were a place to take over someone's body, this would be the place to do it."

"Alright," April took in a deep, calming breath to steady herself. "Now, let's take this thing down and get out of here."

"Whatever you say," Kape hummed and most of the strings dashed forward with the few remaining behind to protectively swirl around the humans.

April set off at a run, but Jay pulled her back just in time. A pink flash shot out from the nexus tower straight toward April. The strings wove into the yellow disk and absorbed the attack, just as April stumbled out of the way.

"What?" April asked breathlessly. "I thought they wouldn't attack me!"

"They wouldn't, if there wasn't another presence that's trying to take over your mind."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, if the Hyper has even partial control, then it can easily set off your mind's defences and aim them at you."

"It knows we're coming?"

"Without a doubt."

"So what can we do?"

"We let Kape handle it," Jay gave her a rare smile. "It's what she's good at."

Even as he said it, the Kape's strings arrived at the base of the nexus tower and slammed full speed into the front door. The strings splayed around the door as it refused to move. They lingered around the entrance for a moment before they started to circle the tower, spinning around it in endless circles, gaining speed, circling faster and faster until they were nothing more than a glowing yellow blur.

Pink flashes shot out at the strings in retaliation, but they were waved off, barely making a scratch on the sentient light. The glowing pink veins on the nexus started to glow brighter as they tried to defend the tower. Large pink cracks spider webbed over the surface of the nexus, and more pink energy oozed out. Then, all at once, a sort of energy barrier shattered and shards of pink light blinked out of existence. In the silence that followed, the door to the nexus soundlessly slid open.

"Door's open," the light swirling around April hummed. "Come on in."

Already Kape's strings were slipping in through the now open doorway, scouting out the best path to their destination. April and Jay were quick on her heels. They passed through the door and entered the nexus.

* * *

 **A/N:** Leave a review! Feed the author!


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N:** Votes for post as I go. Thanks to BubblyShell22 for religiously reviewing. I mean seriously girl, you don't miss a single chapter! Thanks a bunch. And to the rest of you, take a hint, review!

* * *

Chapter 10

Nexus; the control center of the mind. The one place where the soul interacts with the mind to convey commands to the body in order to accomplish a task. The one place where an intruder aims to take over. Control the mind, and you control the person. This is where April, Jay and Kape found themselves, where they found the Hyper.

They passed through the sliding door into the Kraang-like tower and found themselves surrounded by screens that were made of shadows but still managed to show images in full colour and in high quality. There were rows of pulsing pink lights that glowed and sent out and received flashes to the transcribers. There was a main control post in the center of it all, a raised dais where the one in control stood surrounded by flashing lights and panels to manually control the operation of the body.

Standing on this dais was where the group found the Hyper. It was tapping away at the controls, sending various flashes of pink lights skirting out of the tower to do God knows what, but not seeming to have any luck. The Hyper was not in control at this point, but it was trying to break through.

At their entrance, the Hyper stopped its motions before slowly turning around. It was just as April remembered it. A dark, shifting silhouette with smile darker than black.

"So this is the Hyper," Kape drolled out as her strings coalesced beside her companions and swirled together as one mass. "I've got to say, with all the things I've seen in my day, and believe me I've seen a lot, I can honestly say that I've never once come across anything quite like you."

"Well, there was that one time in the Dargatchuan System," Jay pointed out.

"That was totally different," Kape retorted. "That one didn't live solely on the Mental Plane, nor was it able to take me by surprise and steal a fragment of my essence."

"Wasn't too hard," the Hyper boasted, its form blurring as it moved. "You were all caught up in finding a life form that was 'compatible', whatever that's supposed to mean."

"So you _were_ trying to merge!" Jay scolded and Kape seemed to shy away from her angry Guardian.

"Really? Now?!" April said.

"This is not finished," Jay muttered to Kape who chuckled a bit.

"We just want Donnie's Soul Key," April demanded, stepping forward.

"Aw, that's cute," the Hyper said. "Going to save the boy who plays hero."

"Give it back," April repeated.

"Or what?" The Hyper snarled. "You can't touch me in here. You saw what happened when Donnie-chan tried. Physical attacks don't work on the Mental Plane."

"She may not be able to touch you," Kape hummed as she swirled a little closer to the raised dais, "but I am well versed in battling on the Mental Plane."

The Hyper seemed to hesitate for a moment before regaining composure. "You're nothing more than hot air. I know what kind of powers you have. In case you forgot, I have them too. I stole them, from you."

From within the Hyper's shifting form, a dull yellow glow surfaced, and the yellow tendrils snaked out and wiggled around.

Kape seemed to stiffen at this, if strings of light can so that.

"You think you know the extent of my power?" Kape said quietly. "I have been around longer than anything you can dream of. I have lived through millennia, gaining power and knowledge the likes of which you could never comprehend. And you have the nerve to not only question the limits of my abilities, but take them on like their _yours_!"

The mass of strings started to break up and flit around the control room, but Kape wasn't done. "Well, let me tell you something, _sister_. You don't know jack."

By now, Kape's strings filled the room, saturating the area with it's now pulsing yellow energy.

"I now give you a chance," Kape's voice came from everywhere. Each string producing its own voice. "Give up now, and return all that you've stolen and you'll get off easy."

"And then what!?" the Hyper demanded. "Then I go back to being trapped in the mind of a teenager! I don't think so!"

With a yell, the Hyper attacked. It's own yellow tendrils snaked out and tried to bring down the masses of strings. April lost sight of what was going on in the chaos of yellow strings and tendrils as they seemed to clash, fade and pulse all at once. It got so bright, that April had to shield her eyes.

The clash didn't last long, the Hyper was no match for Kape, and when the strings gathered together once again, April saw the shadowy substance of the Hyper and it's few tendrils trapped in a cage of yellow light. It banged against the strings that swirled around, exclaiming profanities and demanding to be released.

In front, stood Kape. Her strings merged together into the form of the golden girl that had hovered over the Shard in the Physical Plane. She stood at full height and looked exactly like Jay, if Jay were a girl. Her long hair cascaded freely down her back, and she held an expression of contemplation on her face as she watched the Hyper with what looked like pity.

After a few tense moments of silence . . . or what could be called silence, since the Hyper was still ranting, Kape sighed and turned to look at Jay.

"Oh no." Jay sighed and rubbed his face, knowing Kape's expression and knowing that it'll only lead to complications. "This just got complicated, didn't it?"

"This is so wrong," Kape whispered. At her words, the Hyper cut off mid-rant.

"What's wrong?" April asked, confused. She glanced at Jay who looked weary. "What happened?"

"Hyper isn't who you think she is," Kape answered.

"The hell do you know about me?" Hyper demanded and pounded on the cage.

"I saw into your soul just now," Kape said, looking at the ground. "Or what's left of it."

". . . You what?" Hyper stuttered.

"I saw _you_. I saw years of being trapped behind someone's walls, the loneliness of having to watch someone else live, of not being able to live your own life."

"What the hell would you know!" Hyper screamed again. "You don't know anything about me!"

"Then enlighten me," Kape said firmly.

Hyper bristled and fumed before exploding all the pent up frustration housed in her shifting form. "I am the product of a Kraang experiment. It's because of _me_ that O'Neil has her precious psychic powers. I been locked in here for _years_ , being drained so she could _hear things_. I don't want to hear about you knowing anything at all! You don't know what you're talking about!"

"What are you exactly?" Kape asked.

"A soul," Hyper answered bitterly. "I am a soul, or I was at one point. The Kraang thought it would be fun to stuff me into another body and see what bloody well happened."

"And what did happen?"

"She got her precious psychic powers," Hyper replied. "And everyone loves her. But no one knows about me and I'm the source of her powers. I may have been a soul at one point, but I am something else entirely now. It's my turn to play and nothing will stop me."

"What are you trying to do?"

"Take over, destroy, vent my anger! Take your pick. But it's going to happen. I am dark. It's my nature, and I will not stop."

There was a moment of silence as Kape gathered her thoughts. She peered through the golden yellow strings and into the featureless face of the Hyper, searching for the right words to calm this aching soul. Jay knew what was coming and braced himself for the coming speech, having heard it numerous times in the past whenever someone brings up the nature of what is Dark.

"Just because something is Dark, doesn't make it evil," Kape finally said.

"What?" Hyper faltered.

"The sun's light can blind just as easily as the night's darkness."

"The hell are you trying to say?"

"Why is it that people are scared of the dark, when the light can burn easier than the dark can freeze? Why do you think that, just because you are Dark, you must be evil? There is no evil in a colour. Black is just as innocent as white. There is no good in warmth or bad in cold. They just _are_. Someone born with the Dark element can be good, just as someone born of the Light can be bad. Trust me, I've seen both." Kape paused in her speech and silence encompassed the room. "You've been here a long time right?"

Hyper growled and clenched her fists. "It's all I've ever known."

"Then you are as much a part of April O'Neil as her own soul. You've watched her live, grow and learn, you've been with her all this time. Hell, you've been giving her your power these last few years and she didn't even know it.

"But I guess that being trapped in the Mental Plane for so long can wear away at just about anyone. You may not be the soul you once started out as, but you're not a thing. You're not an 'it'. Not the result of some alien experiment, or an object of power that can be used, then locked away. You are a part of April O'Neil, and you are needed."

"What do you know? What the hell do you know?! You're just some stupid rock that's been buried in the ground for who knows how long!

"I'm not a part of anything! I'm a parasite! Sucking off her memories and happiness to get a stupid high that never lasts long enough. Then I'm just back in this god forsaken place . . . alone.

"Well I'm sick of it! I deserve a chance to live as much as she does! To walk down the street and feel the sun, to eat a slice of pizza with grease dripping down my face, to knock the crap out of a Foot ninja . . ." Hyper trailed off on her rant before continuing in a small, subdued voice. "Why am I forced to watch someone else live the life that I wasn't allowed to have?"

The silence that followed was deafening. April felt a dread rip through her being. All this was going on in her own mind, and she never knew about it. This being, this person, _Hyper_ . . . she'd been suffering all this time and she never knew. How could she not have known?

"But it wasn't all bad, was it?" Kape urged in a gentle voice.

". . . No. I guess it wasn't," Hyper sighed and slumped against the bars of the cage. "Whenever she used my power, when our souls joined together . . . It just felt right. It felt whole."

"Like I'd connected with something that was missing for so long," April spoke up, with glistening eyes. She stepped up to the cage and grasped onto the strings that made the bars while Hyper stared back at her with clenched teeth. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"An apology isn't going to fix this," Hyper growled.

"Then how about an understanding. I want to understand that part of me that I never even knew existed before now. I want us to be whole again. Please . . ."

"You don't mean that," Hyper's voice quivered in denial, at the insinuations that came with April's words.

"You know I do," April said with conviction.

"How?"

"Because you are me. We're the same."

"No. No, we're not! I can't," Hyper tried to back away, but found herself pressed up against the cage.

"Yes, you can," April reached through the strings of light and grabbed hold of Hyper's hands. Instead of fazing through her body like what happened in the past, they connected. Hyper seemed to flinch at the contact and tried to pull away, but April kept a steady grip.

"Let me show you," April whispered.

Kape nodded in approval and released her cage. The strings of light dissipated and joined together with Kape's body as she stepped away to give them space.

Hyper stumbled when the cage's support suddenly disappeared, but April's grip steadied them both as Kape retreated to Jay's side, who watched the whole proceeding in silence.  
April closed her eyes and brought Hyper's hands close to her chest.

"What are you doing?" Hyper asked in a nervous voice on the edge of panic and tried to pull away again. But she stopped struggling when she felt it. A sense of wholeness that she felt whenever her and April connected spread through her, stronger than anything she'd ever felt in the past.

Jay watched as Hyper's wispy form seemed to destabilize, the mist that made up her body wavering. Then all at once, she dissolved into a black cloud of ash and swirled around April, who's eyes remained closed as they both basked in the other's presence. A soft pink glow glinted off the ashes making them look like a flurry of black snow flakes. April held still as Hyper's particles danced around and reveled in their newfound connection.

"What are they doing?" Jay whispered to Kape as the black snow fall continued to dance and swirl.

"Connecting," Kape answered. "They are learning every aspect of each other, and understanding the other on every level."

"But that's impossible," Jay countered. "You know that."

"Not if they were originally one soul."

"You mean . . ."

"A fragment of April's soul was separated from the rest for such a long time that it developed a conscious of its own. This conscious was twisted by the Kraang's experimentation and being trapped on the Mental Plane for so long. This is just the soul's way of repairing itself, trying to bring the missing fragment back to where it belongs."

"So they'll join together back into one soul?"

"No, the damage is to extensive for that," Kape sighed. "They have grown apart and can never fully merge into what they once were. The best they can do now is share the life that they both have claim to. And now, they both know that. I think this will work out alright."

"Are you worried this'll happen to you?"

Kape hesitated at the question. "Light will one day be whole. The Shard's will be re-united and balance will be restored. You know that. This won't happen to me. I'm different, remember?"

Jay rolled his eyes and watched as Hyper's form started to stabilize again, the ashes coalescing back into a shadowy humanoid form. They held eachothers hands close and rested their foreheads together. The two parts of the single soul stayed that way for a moment longer, finally together again.

"Two parts have joined and become whole," Kape breathed.

"One day, you will too." Jay reassured her. "I'll make sure of that."

"I know you will," Kape hummed and bumped his shoulder and started breaking up into strings of light again. "What else is a Guardian good for?"

"Keeping you out of trouble," Jay smiled as her strings swirled and one flicked him in the face. "Speaking of which," he said, brushing Kape's strings away. He stepped forward as April and Hyper broke apart. "Now that you're whole, I don't think you really need _that_ anymore."

Hyper looked down at herself and watched as the dull yellow glow still swirled inside of her shifting body. She hesitated a little before nodding. "Sorry to be so much trouble," she muttered as she held out her hand. The yellow tendrils that ran through her misty body condensed into her palm and materialized in a squirming ball of light.

"Well, it's a step in the right direction," Kape said light-heartedly as her strings swarmed around the squirming ball. All at once, the ball released and more glowing, yellow strings erupted and flickered about the room. The only thing left in Hyper's hand was a single, docile string of white light that lazily swam in a circle.

"Oh, how I've missed you," Kape cooed as the white string leisurely wrapped around a yellow one.

"I still can't believe you lost it in the first place," Jay scoffed.

"What is that?" April asked. "It's different from the other lights."

"It's the Index," Jay replied. "A data bank that has stored every single scrap of knowledge that Light has collected over the years it's existed, which is pretty much forever."

"Go on," Kape prodded, ignoring his comment. "Ask me something."

Jay rolled his eyes. "How about we finish up in here so we can get back and deal with the problems on the Physical Plane."

"Which means there's just one more thing that needs to be done in here," Kape finished.

"Donnie's Soul Key," Hyper turned to April once more and they joined hands again. "Do you think he's mad?"

"I think he'll understand," April said. "Probably spaz out, but you know him as well as I do."

"Just . . . make sure he gets back," Hyper said. There was once more a glow from within Hyper's shifting form and this time, a purple light traveled down Hyper's arms and into April.

"Aren't you coming with us?" April asked, confused.

"Only one soul can occupy a body at any one time," Kape interrupted. "Only one of you can go back. The other has to stay here on the Mental Plane."

"We can't just leave her!" April exclaimed. "You said so yourself, it's dangerous to be here for too long."

"I've overcome that," Hyper reassured her. "The Mental Plane doesn't affect me the way it used to. I'll be fine, just go and save our boy hero."

April looked conflicted for a moment before the determination returned to her face. She nodded before turning back to the others. With a nod, they turned and started to leave.

"I'll be watching," Hyper shouted as the door closed behind them.

 **Oo-oO**

April approached Donnie's strong metal gates and, like with her own, she extended her hand and pushed. She felt the pulse, saw the flash and the lock clicked open. Almost too slowly, the gates silently swung open and Donnie was stumbling out before they could even open all the way, the string of light keeping him company swirling around him. He looked alright, a little shaken, but he seemed relieved to finally be out of there. The only thing marring him was the dark hole in his chest, but that was about to be fixed.

"Donnie!" April cried out and ran forward to hug him. They pulled away from each other and April took Donnie's hands in hers, earning a slight blush at the contact. He stuttered a little but watched in amazement as a purple glow traveled down April's arms and up his own as she returned his Soul Key. The purple glow settled in his chest, and the gaping hole where the Soul Key was once ripped out was filled, leaving no sign of any blemish that once marred his chest.

"I'd say this mission was successful," Kape hummed as she split her strings between the three people in their little party with a few scouting the path ahead. "Let's get out of here."

Kape led the way skirting forward for the safe path and April took the time to glance back at the gates to their minds. She took in Donnie's tall, strong gates and her own small rickety fence. Then a thought struck her. Something was missing.

"Hey Jay," April called out. "I know you said that Kape doesn't have one . . . but where's _your_ gate?"

Jay smirked and Kape seemed to chuckle.

"I do have a gate, if that's what your asking," he replied, turning his back to her and looking forward. "But when with experience comes knowledge, and walls aren't the only defence that can protect your mind. After all, it's hard to break a wall you can't find."

"You can hide your walls?" Donnie asked incredulously.

"Pretty much," Jay said, with his back still turned. April and Donnie searched around the area, looking for the so-called hidden gates, but coming up with nothing.

"Don't fall behind now," Kape hummed. April and Donnie looked back and realized that Jay was walking away without them.

"Hey! Wait up!" April ran after him with Donnie close on her heels.

 **Oo-oO**

April stirred as visions from the Mental Plane faded and she found herself once again inside the Shell Razor. She blinked, clearing away the yellow tinge from her vision as Donnie moaned and sat up. They smiled at each other as Jay cradled the Shard in his arms. The journey back to the Physical Plane was a success.

April watched as Donnie looked around, taking in their surroundings. But then his face fell and panic seemed to set in.

Confused, April turned to see what caught him off guard and gasped at what she saw. The Shell Razor was a wreck. The display screens were cracked and blasted static, various pieces of equipment were smoking and broken, the smell of burnt rubber permeated the air. But most of all, something—or rather a couple of someones—were missing.

Something had gone terribly wrong while they were on the Mental Plane and string of fear shot through April.

"Where are the others?"

* * *

 **A/N:** Troll, cliffy! Want to know what happens faster? Maybe some reviews will set the imagination to work.


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N:** Sorry for the wait, got a little writer's block. Fight scenes suck. But hey, longest chapter yet!

* * *

Chapter 11

They'd come out of no where; swarming the street, blasters blazing and ran them off the road. They had no choice but to get out of the van and fight them off. Donnie, April and that other guy were still in the Mental Plane and couldn't defend themselves. So they confronted the swarm of Tagoos in a run down part of town where no one really lives anymore.

Leo, Raph, Mikey and Casey now stood back to back, surrounded by the little aliens. There was more then last time, leaving Leo to reason that these were the last few squadrons. The last time they fought, they only had to deal with one squadron at a time, now they've got three at once. Needless to say, the numbers were a little over whelming.

"What do we do?" Raph shouted as his sais clashed with two sparking batons and he forced back his opponent. Casey dashed around, hitting everything close by with his baseball bat. He was currently wailing on one guy who didn't seem to understand the concept of moving out of the way.

"Just, try and hold them off," Leo replied as he sliced a blaster in half and kicked its wielder back, taking out two others rushing towards him. Leo knew that they were in trouble. The Shell Razor was down, and the one who usually fixed it in these situations was out of commission. He couldn't call for a retreat either. They could leave the Shell Razor behind, but not the people still inside.

"Hold them off until what?!" Raph demanded.

"Until . . .Oh, just hold them off!" Leo ducked under blaster fire and shot two shuriken at a Tagoo which lodged themselves in its head gear, causing it to spark and burst into flame. The Tagoo took off running, flailing its hands above its head while two others tried to put the fire out but only managing to knock each other down.

"Works for me," Mikey grinned mischievously. "Booyakasha!"

They flew into battle with renewed strength, and they lost themselves in the clash of metal, the zapping of blasters, and the gibberish of Mikey's battle cries. But then a strange crackling was heard over the sounds of battle.

Before anyone had a change to process the new threat, electricity flashed from out of nowhere. The lightning joined all the Tagoos together like a game of Connect-the-Dots, jumping from one bad guy to the next. Their weapons shorted out and exploded and their robotic armour started to smoke. As quickly as it appeared, the electricity vanished, leaving the three squadrons of Tagoos to simultaneously drop to the ground. The only ones left standing were three very confused mutant turtles and one overly excited hockey addict.

"Dude! That was so metal!" Casey exclaimed, waving his baseball bat in the air as he jumped over the prone forms of the fallen aliens.

"Been a while since I got to do that," a voice cut through his excitement. The fighters looked over towards where the Shell Razor crashed and saw the new kid standing on top of the van, with residual electricity jumping between his hands, arms and body and the Shard cradled in one arm was glowing slightly.

"What was that?" Donnie breathed in awe from the entrance into the Shell Razor. April stood beside him and they took in the fallen army, some still sparking but all defeated, before turning to look at their new ally in amazement.

"Guardian's got to have _some_ way to protect the Shard," Jay shrugged and jumped down from the van, holding the Shard close.

"You shoot lightning?" Raph asked skeptically.

"Electricity," Jay corrected.

"What's the difference?"

"Donnie!" Mikey exclaimed and tackled his brother to the ground. "You're okay! Did you get your Soul Thingy back?"

"Get off!" Donnie exclaimed as he pushed him off. Mikey grinned as Donnie regained his feet.

Leo breathed a sigh of relief as he checked Donnie over, he seemed okay so he turned back to the kid. "What happened in there? Did everything go smoothly?"

"Explanations later," Jay said. "We have to move. If the Tagoos have found us, then reinforcements won't be far behind. Did you see their Commander?"

"Commander? Does he look any different from the rest of them?" Raph scoffed. "Cuz they all looked the same to me. Short and ugly."

"You'd fit right in," Mikey quipped before jumping back a few steps to avoid Raph's fist.

"Trust me," Jay said. "You'd know him if you saw him."

"I think I'm seeing him right now," Donnie whimpered as he pointed behind them.

The team tensed as an earie squeak of grinding metal echoed in the empty street. As one, they turned around and took in the giant, looming machine that stood taller than the telephone poles, with dull armour caked with grime. The robot had giant appendages equipped with blasters and projectiles, with a domed cockpit where they could make out another Tagoo, larger than the others operating the controls. It was something right out of Super Robo Mecha Force Five with a hint of Kraang, but without the pink.

"Dude, how did we miss that?" Mikey said.

"Move!" Leo shouted as he jumped out of the way of the first shot from the Commander's energy canon. The blast connected with the open road with a ringing explosions, sending chunks of asphalt shooting everywhere. A smoking crater five feet across was left in the road like a giant pot hole.

"Oh, that's not good," Leo muttered to himself, then called out as everyone scattered around. "Everyone keep moving! Don't give him a clear target!"

The Commander clicked in amusement as the team was scattered again, dodging blaster fire and exploding projectiles. Leo smacked away a flying explosive with a katana and watched as it sailed through the air and slammed into the Shell Razor, which promptly blew up.

"My baby!" Donnie screamed as the van was knocked onto its side and started smoking as something inside caught fire. "You're gonna pay for that! Do you have any idea how long it took to tune the break shaft?!"

Leo flinched, thinking for a moment that Donnie was spazing out at him. But then Leo watched as Donnie reached into his belt with a smile that would have anyone running scared that was only enhanced when Donnie spoke.

"I've been wanting to test this out."

A chill went down Leo's spine when he heard this, but he knew what he had to do.

"Take cover!" Leo yelled as he ran past the others and took shelter in an alley. "Donnie's testing something new!"

They all dove behind the closest object that was attached to the ground, knowing what that Donnie's test runs implied. Well, everyone except for Jay, who had no idea why everyone had apprehensive expressions (or overly excited one's in Casey's case). He only had time to watch Donnie throw a what looked like a mis-shaped ball of metal at the thirty-something foot mech and dive for cover himself.

The Commander saw it coming and shot at the projectile, trying to dispose of it before it hit its target. Bright energy bolts shot out of the blaster, but whatever Donnie threw was so small that he couldn't hit it. In a last ditch effort, the Commander swung one of the mech's large arms to try and swat it down. The mech's arm hit it dead on and as the projectile came into contact with the mech, it imploded. What looked like a miniature nuclear blast erupted and the Commander's mech was lost in a mushroom cloud that rose above the surrounding buildings.

"Aw yeah baby!" Donnie yelled as he jumped up and threw his hands in the air. "How does twenty mills of nitro-explosives taste?!"

"Yea boy!" Mikey exclaimed and high-threed Donnie.

"That was awesome!" Casey whooped.

"I'd say that test was successful," Raph crossed his arms with a smile.

"Not as successful as you'd think," Jay said as a silhouette formed from within the clearing smoke, looming tall above them.

"You've gotta be kidding," Raph moaned as the mech stepped out of the smoke. The machine was by no means defeated, but it did take damage in the blast. The arm that took the brunt of the explosion now lay limp by its side, but the mech was otherwise functional.

"Donnie," Leo said. "Please tell me you've got more of those."

"Only had time to make the one," Donnie said sheepishly. "Although the explosion was more powerful than antici—"

"Not helping!" Leo snapped before the skirmish started again.

It was seven on one, but out numbering it didn't seem to do too much. Jay was the only one who seemed to be making any progress. He stood on top of an abandoned car and shot lightning—sorry, electricity—from his hands. That in itself hadn't fully registered in Leo's mind, but the fact that it was doing more damage than swords and wooden sticks sure did.

The Commander took a blast of yellow electricity to the chest and stumbled back before crashing into a building. The metal on his chest smoked and was slightly melted, but it didn't keep him down for long.

With an angry click, the mech pushed itself up and charged at the Guardian. Jay hopped down from the car and started backing up, looking for someplace to take cover. Then Mikey jumped in and threw his kusarigama, the chain wrapped around the mech's legs, tripping it up and sending it face-planting onto the ground.

"Quick! Go for the cockpit!" Jay yelled over the creaking of the mech as it tried to right itself.

Leo took the cue and launched himself at the mech's domed cockpit, where he could make out the Commander frantically pushing buttons and pulling levers. With both hands on the hilt of his katana, Leo jumped up and used the momentum to stab down through the cockpit, shattering the dome and impaling the Tagoo Commander. At least, that's what was supposed to happened. Instead, his blade slid off the smooth dome without even a scratch.

"What?" Leo said and then jumped back as the Commander retaliated.

"Kape?" Jay yelled as the mech picking itself up with an ear piercing gratting as dirty hinges protested against the added force it took to accomplish the task. The Shard glowed faintly in his arms in response to his request.

"What was that?!" Leo demanded. The mech stomped down with his giant metal foot and Leo lunged out of the way and was back up and running even as he called out again. "We had him!"

"Damn it!" Jay exclaimed as he blasted the mech with another electrical attack. The mech stumbled, giving Leo enough time to get a safe distance away. "It made of Togrim. It's a lot stronger than any metal. Your blade won't be able to do anything to it."

"So the cockpit's out," Leo said digging deep for another possibility. "Can we get through with something stronger?"

"Unless you have a diamond powered laser handy, that's not an option."

"Can't you just, like, blast it with lightning?" Casey called out.

"I have been!" Jay said between clenched teeth.

A new whirring drew their attention once again. The Commander smiled wickedly behind the seemingly indestructible dome and threw another switch. The mech jolted before a large metal part from its back dislodged and swung up over its head before bending. A shaft swirled open, making a large hole where some projectile will surely be shot from.

"Gas bomb!" Jay shouted just as the barrel of the new appendage started to glow a sickly green colour then shrieked as a large green orb was fired. The projectile didn't travel far and hit the ground hard before exploding in a green oozing blast that swept over the area like a disease. The shockwave was immense and sent everyone to the ground, clutching their ringing ears and trying not to gag on the sickly green fog that clouded the street. The only one who managed to stay on their feet was Jay, who was the only one who had an idea of what was coming.

"We're getting our shells kicked here," Raph growled. "Leo, we need a plan."

"I'm working on it," Leo replied as his mind buzzed through possibilities. "Donnie, you think you can sabotage it?"

"I'd need a way into it's wiring," Donnie replied, his eyes running over the mech for possible weaknesses. "That is, assuming that the alien technology isn't too complicated."

Jay listened as the turtles came up with a plan that _wasn't_ going to work. Their weapons weren't strong enough to pierce the mechs armour and it won't be easy to get inside.

 _But what if . . ._ He thought as the idea popped into his head

 _That could work,_ Jay heard Kape's voice through their connection. _Tagoos are vulnerable to such attacks, even the Commanders._

Jay watched as the turtles surrounded the mech swinging hooked chains around their heads. They let the chains fly and wrapped around the mechs legs. For a moment, the mech seemed to trip over itself, but before it went tumbling to the ground again, it managed to regain its balance and rip through the chains. The turtles were sent flying as the mech swung the chains around.

"No!" Jay heard April call as she watched her friends hit the ground harder than was good for them. Casey started shooting hockey pucks equipped with fire crackers at the mech, which didn't do anything, but seemed to amuse the Commander none-the-less. Jay took the opportunity the distraction created.

"April!" Jay called over the sounds of battle. "You have to merge with Hyper! You can take him out together!"

April stared at him, and understood instantly.

 _You with me_? April asked her inner self, feeling swirls of their bond in her mind.

 _Always,_ Hyper replied in her head. _Let's bring this mech down._

April closed her eyes and felt Hyper's will entwine with her own. Their thoughts synchronized and their minds linked. They became one, they became whole and their combined power flooded their very being.

"Let's do this," a two-toned voice said as April stepped forward, a new breeze whirling around them.

Leo watched in horror as April's hair faded to white once more and dark veins snaked around her arms. Hyper April was back. Something _must_ hove gone wrong on the Mental Plane. April must have lost control of the Hyper. Leo grit his teeth and was about to lunge toward the new threat when a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He glanced back to see Jay holding him back.

"It's alright," Jay reassured him. "Hyper's on _our_ side now."

Leo turned back in confusion to watch the supposedly now good Hyper April finish her transformation. Without the Shard's power, her form no longer glowed with yellow light, her tendrils were slower to react and black in colour. At the same time, she looked more sure of herself, more confidant than before. Leo's trepidation faded quickly as he saw the familiar defiance that April always held as she stood alone against the Commander of the Tagoos in his mech.

It was a classic stare down: oversized, giant Mech-Lord Commander versus psychic human girl. Or something like that.

April let Hyper take the lead, feeling how the psychic energy was channeled through her counter part and out towards the Commander, aiming to take control of his mind, like she'd done to the other Tagoo squadrons earlier that night. She squeezed her eyes shut in concentration and placed her fingers on her temples to focus. She felt the tension build up in her head, and she gathered more power.

When she felt like her head was about to burst, she released the wave of energy with a yell. She swept her arms out in front of her and a shockwave of psychic power flew towards the mech, hitting the Commander head on.

The team of fighters all watched with trepidation. For a few moments, all was still. No one moved. . . Then the mech creaked. A low squeak that dragged out as the legs seemed to be working hard to keep the machine upright, filling the empty night street with a keening that grated on one's nerves. Then one leg jolted forward, and the mech caught itself before it had a chance to fall.

Inside the cockpit, the Commander's face flushed and he clicked in rage. He slapped buttons and yanked on levers with unnecessary force and the mech jerked into motion once again as Hyper April lost her grip on the Commander's mind.

"It didn't work!" Mikey exclaimed as he ran in anything but a straight line, dodging the new stream of blaster fire.

"What gave it away?" Raph grunted.

"What happened?" Jay asked as he drew level with Hyper April. She looked winded and fought to catch her breath and stay on her feet.

"Not enough power," Hyper April gasped out, her two-toned voice wavering with effort. "We don't have the Shard's support like last time. . ."

 _That can be easily fixed._ Kape whispered in Jay's head. He groaned inwardly, knowing that it would come down to this eventually. But he had to admit, at this point they didn't have much of a choice.

"Alright," Jay gave in. He turned to the others weaving in and out of the mech's firing range, trying to make a dent in its armour. "Keep the Commander busy. We need time!"

"What are you doing?!" Leo yelled as he deflected plasma rays off the reflective surface of his katana.

"Power boost!" Jay replied before dragging Hyper April into a narrow alley that would provide them with cover.

He held the Shard out in front of him and looked at the girl in front of him. Her now white hair was tangled and fell in her face, her pony tail long since fallen out, and her once bright eyes were dimmed from the Dark element that empowered Hyper.

"I don't have time to explain fully," Jay started, "but the only way to power you up enough to be able to defeat the Commander is for you to merge with the Shard."

"Merge?"

"Like what happened the last time you touched it, but instead of only a fragment, you'll be taking in Kape's entire essence. The influx of power will be immense, but it's our only shot."

"Do it," Hyper April said with no hesitation.

"You have to understand; this won't be like anything you've ever felt before. It usually takes months of training before being able to handle it, so instead Kape will have to keep it toned down so you don't get overwhelmed."

"Whatever, just get on with it."

"When it's done," Jay said, looking her straight in the eye, "let Kape take control. She's the only one who will be able to process the change and control all the power."

"Got it," Hyper April said, her determination never leaving her face.

Jay took a deep breath before holding out the Shard. April placed her hands on it and they both closed their eyes and they connected once again. The Shard glowed brightly as the yellow light filled the alley and yellow strings started to circle around them.

April and Hyper felt it as Jay guided Kape towards their single mind. Then they touched, and power exploded through their mental connection. It was the same as when April first touched the Shock Rock, she was glued to it and couldn't move, could only let the overwhelming power flow into her.

It was over as soon as it began. Jay opened his eyes and watched as, not April nor Hyper stood in front of him. The girl's hair now shone a golden yellow and her eyes swam with and unnatural neon yellow light that pierced through the darkest nights. Yellow strings swirled around her arms and danced around the night air.

"Wow," she whispered in a monotone voice, Kape's voice, as she inspected the hands of the body she now occupied.

"You good?" Jay asked.

Kape smiled in answer and walked past him and out of the alley to once again face the Commander. Jay was left alone, clutching what was now only just a rock, its once glowing veins dark, cold and empty.

 **Oo-oO**

The fighting grew still when a flash of yellow light brightened the empty street. From a nearby alley, April emerged standing tall and strong. Her hair was gold and glowing, her eyes bright and piercing, her tendrils now strings that flitted around her in a defensive manner.

The girl who was so many people at once, once again stood strong against the Commander of the Tagoos. Only this time, the Commander knew he was up against more than he could handle. The Shard managed to find someone who was compatible and merge with them. He had to inform Kentoki. . .

"Let's settle this," Kape called out. The others flinched at the unfamiliar voice coming from their friend. The Commander froze in his cockpit, then slapped the controls in desperation.

The mech once again transfigured itself. The arms rotated above the cockpit and joined together, they grew longer before swinging down and pointing the most powerful blaster it had at the girl. The barrel glowed red hot before a piercing light fired from the cannon. Kape only watched as the blaster fired and hit her. The resulting explosion was the largest yet and the others were thrown off their feet and buried in rubble as the street lights simultaneously burst and cast the street in darkness.

"April!" A few of them called out, searching for their friend as they tried to blink spots out of their eyes.

The street was a wreck; it couldn't even be called a street anymore. More like a pile of asphalt. But as the dust settled and spots faded from their vision, they all stared opened mouthed as a ball of yellow light created from the interlocking strings formed a shield that protected Kape from the impossibly powerful shot. The strings broke up and filtered through the air, casting their yellow glow in the place of broken street lights. Kape stood strong in the middle of a circle of asphalt untouched by the ravaging attack.

She kept her gaze up on the Commander, who went still in his cockpit. She raised a hand and concentrated on the thoughts of April and Hyper as they guided her through the attack. With a flick of her wrist, the same shockwave of psychic power erupted from her once again, only this time it was so powerful that everyone around felt it. The psychic attack was so strong that it invaded everyone of their minds, they all blacked out and collapsed to the ground.

 **Oo-oO**

Leo wasn't sure how long he was out, but as soon as he remembered what was happening, he was up on his feet again. A wave of dizziness almost sent him right back down, but he leaned on a katana to keep his balance. His eyes wandered around what was left of the battle field. Chunks of pavement were strewn everywhere and the dust from all the explosions were finally settling.

The Commander's mech lay in a giant heap of metal, seeming to have simply fallen over, crushing a parked car and taking out a telephone pole. Whatever April, or Hyper April, or whoever she was now. . . whatever she did, it didn't look like the mech was moving anytime soon. The Commander lay in the cockpit, eyes wide and unmoving.

He continued roaming the area and his gaze landed on the pair that was standing alone in the middle of the chaos, in a circle left untouched by the disaster. April, back to her normal appearance although she still looked a little disheveled, stood in front of Jay. They held the Shard between them as the last bits of the Shard's power left April and returned to the rock that had began to glow again.

"What happened?" Leo croaked out as he approached them.

"Leo!" April smiled. Red hair, single voice, normal eyes. Yep, definitely April. Around them, the others managed to drag themselves up to their feet and make their way over to the growing group.

"Ohhh," Donnie moaned when he got a good look at the Shell Razor. "My poor baby." He ran over to inspect the damage, fussing over the all the work he'd have to do to repair it.

"Dude," Casey said he took in the damage done to the street and the motionless mech, "that was one of the top five most awesome moments of my life!"

"Can it Casey," Raph growled at him. "This is serious."

"The Commander's been dealt with," Jay said, drawing their attention, "but more _will_ come. I appreciate all that you've done to help, but this is our problem now. You've done enough here, and it's best you don't get mixed up anymore than you already have."

"Wait," Leo interrupted. "You're just gonna ditch us? You haven't even explained what the heck is going on! No way, nuh uh. You're not getting rid of us that easily—,"

Leo was cut off by a crackling of static coming from the seemingly incapacitated mech. The group tensed before drawing their weapons once again.

"Come on!" Raph said, twirling a sai. "What does it take for this thing to stay down?!"

The mech twitched a moment, before the dome of the cockpit slid open and a thundering voice boomed in the quiet night.

"HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN?"

"Kentoki," Jay growled and clutched the Shard closer to himself. The others seemed to relax when they realized that the mech wasn't going to attack again, but remained apprehensive.

"We meet again boy," the ominous voice pierces through the empty street, emanating from the mech's cockpit. "It has been too long since we last faced off. I must admit, I did not think you had the gall to enter the Hyper Vacuum, but it seems that I underestimated you."

"As you always have," Jay replied.

"But it was all in vain. Your plan to stall for time has failed. I've found the Shard before your precious Light. And I shall take it when I defeat you myself."

"You seem to forget that we've been through this before," Jay said. "You've never succeeded and you never will."

"And you seem to forget that _once again_ , Light has failed to come to your rescue. Admit it, your Light is weak, uncomplete. It won't be long before the Darkness takes over. You Guardians may have bought some time, but it will never be enough to stop me. Prepare yourself, _boy_ , for tomorrow will be your last day. I will arrive on Earth and destroy all you and your new allies."

"I'd like to see you try," Jay taunted before the transmission cut off.

Jay seemed to sag a bit and held the Shard to his chest.

"Looks like you could use some help," Leo said with a raised eyebrow.

Jay sighed. "It's best I explain the situation to you fully, before you make a decision. You may find that you aren't as willing to get into something as big as this."

* * *

 **A/N:** Battle scene, end! Finally. Next chapter are the long awaited answers and back story. It's time for a history lesson, boys and fangirls.


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N:** Warning! Lots of info thrown at you in this chap. I think I did a pretty good job here, and hopefully it all makes sense. I predict three of four more chapters after this one until the end inevitably comes around.

* * *

Chapter 12

It took longer than anticipated to get the Shell Razor into the nearest underground entrance and it would take days of work before it was back in top shape. Needless to say, Donnie was a little put out, but any disappointment was thrown from the window when Jay jumped into the Commander's mech, after throwing the unconscious Commander out, and said that it might be useful in the upcoming battle. But Donnie didn't really care about that, because Donnie got a new toy robot to play with.

The excitement, however, died when they led Jay past the turnstiles and into the lair, where they were greeted by Master Splinter, his hands folded behind his back and a stern look, which only grew in intensity when he spotted the new comer. But if Jay was taken off guard by the appearance of a giant rat, he certainly didn't show it, nor did he comment.

"My sons," Splinter addressed them with that disappointed look, "it seems that, _once again_ , you have seen fit to bring a stranger to our _secret,_ hidden lair."

"Chill out Master Splinter," Mikey said smoothly, "he's cool. He's, like, the Guardian of the Shard and stuff."

Splinter arched and eyebrow before addressing the group as a whole. "It seems that a lot has happened in one night."

"You don't know the half of it," Raph muttered.

"Come," Splinter beckoned them towards the pit of couches, "let us sit. Then you can tell me what sort of trouble you've gotten yourselves into _this_ time."

Jay smiled at the insinuation and followed.

 **Oo-oO**

"And then April got gold hair and she flicked her hand and everything went black, and when we woke up, the giant robo mech was down and April was back to normal!" Mikey finished the tale with exaggerated hand motions and great sound effects.

"You have indeed had a great adventure this night," Splinter mused, shaking his head. Only these boys could get into so much trouble in so little time. They had shared their entire story; from searching the city for more Shock Rocks, to finding April who wasn't really April, to coming across Jay with April who _was_ April, to their journey into the Mental Plane, to their ambush by the Tagoos and taking out the Commander and the mysterious voice that promised a great battle the following night.

"And it seems like I have you to thank for helping my sons," Splinter bowed his head to Jay.

"I wouldn't say that exactly," Jay replied, looking down at the Shard in his lap. "It's only because us that this is happening in the first place."

"It also seems like there is more to this story."

"Yes, quite a bit actually."

"Perhaps it would be best if you shared your story, to help us better understand the enemy we will be facing."

"What do you want to know?" Jay asked.

"Who are you?" "Who's this enemy that's coming?" "What's your favorite kind of cat?" "Where the heck is this Shard thing come from, anyway?"

"Perhaps," Master Splinter interrupted the rain of questions, "you should start at the beginning?"

"The beginning, huh?" Jay mused with a sigh. "Alright then, I guess that would be the legends."

"Story time!" Mikey whispered, tapping his feet in excitement.

"A long time ago," Jay began and the room fell silent, "there was nothing. The earth was empty and had no form. Then God said, 'Let there be Light,' and there was light. God saw that the light was good, so he divided the Light from Darkness."

"That's . . ." Leo ventured.

"Genesis. The creation of everything in the words of the Bible," Jay nodded. "That's how it all started. In the beginning of, pretty much everything, there were two entities; Light and Dark. Although they had their differences, Light and Dark respected each other and maintained balance across the universe as brother and sister.

"But one day, something happened. Light and Dark got into a fight that turned into a full scale battle between two all powerful beings. It was catastrophic. In the end, Dark landed a fatal blow on Light and she shattered into Seven Shards. These Shards flew far from the battle field and were lost, separated throughout the vast expanse of the universe."

"And Kape is one of these Shards?" Leo asked.

"That's right," Jay nodded. "One of the Seven Shards of Light. Each one holds a fragment of Light's original power, a fragment of her soul."

"But why would Dark do something like that?" Mikey asked.

"Yeah," Casey said, "they were supposed to be family."

"No one remembers why, or how the fight started," Jay continued, "not even Light. Or, at least, that's what Base tells me. But what I do know, is that when Dark realized what he had done, he ran. Again, no one knows where he went or what he's been doing ever since then. Some say that he seeks his sister's Shards, searching the universe for any sign of them and trying to fix the wrong that he has done and restore balance again. On the other hand, some say that he has hidden himself away and is grieving over the loss of his sister by his own hand. Some say that he has long since given into this grief and is no longer part of this realm. In any case, no one has heard from Dark for a long, long time. But one thing is for certain, Dark regrets what he did.

"Although this may be what happened, this is the truth, the legends that spread have warped the facts as time passed. They now say that had Dark began to lust for more power and turned against Light, that their battle was the result of Dark trying to destroy his sister and steal her power for himself. They believe that even now, Dark searches for the Shards, not to help his sister, but to gain her power, rid the universe of her influence and take control of everything."

"That's horrible," April muttered.

"But if the seven Shards of Light come together once again, Light will return and balance will be restored. As far as I'm aware, three of seven Shards have been recovered and the fragments of Light within have joined together into the one we now refer to as Light. Although her power is less than half of what it used to be, it will continue to grow as more Shards are reunited.

"The legends have spread far and wide, touching many planets with tales of the power that the Shards contain. Because of these stories, corrupt, power hungry people have come forward, yearning for the power that the Shards could give them. One such person is Kentoki. He is the one who we spoke to after defeating the Commander."

"So, this Kentoki," Leo said, "he's the one who we'll be fighting against tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Jay said, staring at the Shard resting in his lap. "I have come across him a few times in the past. He's powerful, and I've never truly been able to defeat him by myself. You see, Kentoki is a war lord from a distant planet whose social system is built on strength and power, of which Kentoki once found himself on top of. He ruled the planet mercilessly. He lives for battle and gained his position by conquering any who would stand in his way.

"He had also heard the tales of the Shards of Light, but brushed them off as mere folklore. If only he had kept these beliefs, we would have been spared of all this trouble."

"What happened?" April asked.

"One day, long ago," Jay started again, "a worker dug up a strange rock in one of the mines. This rock was said to contain veins that glowed red and emanated a strange power."

"Sound familiar," Raph nudged Leo who shushed him.

"As the worker touched the rock, he gained the power to move objects and conjure whips of red light. The worker embraced his newfound power and begun to rampage, slaughtering many before Kentoki himself was forced to destroy him. That was when Kentoki first laid his eyes on the First Shard of Light. That was the moment when he truly believed the legends.

"Kentoki's greed only grew when he felt the power of the Shard for himself, but the fragment of Light encased in that Shard recognized Kentoki as evil, and blocked herself from his influence. Kentoki was enraged when he couldn't harness the Shard's power and set out to extract it any way he could, most methods involved trying to rip the Shard from the rock causing untold agony to the fragmented soul inside.

"In her suffering, the First Shard called out in a voice with no sound, begging someone to save her from this monster. It was not far off that someone heard the Shard's call. A young soldier in Kentoki's army, who didn't entirely believe in Kentoki's way of ruling, soon found himself breaking into his lord's vaults and stealing away the Shard. Together, they fled the planet and the first Guardian was found."

"And that was you?" Leo asked. "That's how you became a Guardian?"

Jay looked surprised at the question before smiling to himself, chuckling a little. "No, that wasn't me. That was the story of how Gengi became the Guardian of the Red Shard, the First Shard. Kape here is the Yellow and Third Shard."

"They're color coded?" Raph scoffed.

"Well think about it," Jay said. "What happens when you break apart white light?"

"You get a rainbow," Donnie answered as it clicked together in his mind. "So when Light shattered, she broke apart into the seven colours of the rainbow. Seven colours, seven Shards."

"Exactly," Jay nodded.

"Hold on," Raph interrupted, "we're assuming that all you Guardians have never met before, right?"

"That's right," Jay said.

"Then how is it you know his back story if you've never met the guy? How do you know what really happened?"

"That would be thanks to the Index," Jay replied.

"Index?" April said. "You mean the thing that answered the questions I asked in my head?"

"That would be it," Jay replied. "The Index is one of the things that links each Shard to each other. It's basically a collection of all the knowledge that each Shard, and before that, the knowledge that Light has gathered throughout her life."

"So then, you're the Guardian of the Third Shard," Leo said. "What does that mean exactly?"

"Each Shard has a Guardian," Jay said, "one who will protect her and keep her safe from the chaos Light comes to reunite all seven Shards. I don't know how the Guardians are chosen, but once you are, you're stuck with your Shard until Light shows up. It's not easy, that's for sure. No matter where we go, there's always someone or something trying to steal the Shard. She's like a magnet for trouble."

"Like what happed with the Creep," Mikey said.

"You're right," Donnie said. "The Creep was more fixated on getting the Shard than draining us of our mutagen this time."

"Thank goodness for that," Raph mumbled.

"Usually," Jay continued, "they aren't too difficult to deal with. The powers bestowed to the Guardian by the Shard are usually more than enough to discourage such people from trying anything."

"Like your zappy powers?" Casey asked.

"Za—Yeah, sure," Jay said, frowning at his choice of words. "They're handy, but if the Guardian is away from the Shard for too long, these powers begin to weaken and fade. A little incentive to stay close. Actually, it's one of the reasons I didn't confront you sooner. We were apart for too long, and I was unsure whether I'd be able to hold my own if it came down to a fight."

"It seems that you have been through many difficult trials for one so young," Master Splinter spoke up.

"I'm not as young as I look. In fact, originally, I wasn't even human," Jay admitted. That got everyone's attention. "I used to be called Marrow Fog and lived on a planet called Deltra Prone, where the Hunthians are the dominant species, in the year 10,628 AD."

"So you're like an alien?" Mikey wondered.

"Is that why you didn't freak out when you saw us?" Leo asked. "You're used to seeing aliens?"

"I suppose I've seen my fair share of odd creatures over the years," Jay pondered. "You guys really aren't all that odd looking."

"If you're from some other planet," Raph said. "Why do you look human?"

Jay sighed and inspected himself. "It seems that passing through the Hyper Vacuum has changed me in more ways than I thought possible."

"Hyper Vacuum?"

"Wait wait, go back a bit," Donnie said, holding up his hands. "When you say the year 10-thousand-something AD, do you mean to say that your . . ."

"From the future, yes. About eight thousands years, as far as I can tell."

"How is that possible?" Donnie wondered.

"That has to do with the Hyper Vacuum as well," Jay said. "You see; the Hyper Vacuum is one of the few phenomena of the universe that still remain a mystery. It's a giant, swirling pool of energy and chaos that is said to connect everything in the universe; galaxies, dimensions, time . . . even souls. Very little is known about the Hyper Vacuum's true nature or how it works, and I wasn't entirely sure what would happen after I passed through, or if I'd even survive the journey."

"Then why risk it?"

"Kentoki had me cornered and I couldn't let him get the Shard. It's my duty as a Guardian to keep her safe. I had no other way of escaping, of getting away from Kentoki, except to jump into the Hyper Vacuum and pray that I didn't get separated from Kape."

"So what happened?"

"Heh," Jay chuckled a little. "You know, it's funny, because I'm not exactly sure. Maybe the Vacuum made me human, maybe I connected with some human kid's soul, maybe I've always been human. What I _do_ know is that I've traveled billions of light years and jumped eight thousand years into the past.

"It feels like it happened so long ago, but the memory is still so fresh in my mind. It was like, as soon as I jumped into the Vacuum, I was born again. I have a life on Earth as a human; my mother gave birth to me, I grew up, got a sister, went to school, lived the life of a normal human boy. But I always knew. Somehow I never forgot a single thing. I always knew I was a Guardian. I knew who was searching for us. I knew how to fight, how to defend myself and Kape. I knew that Kape was nearby and safe, but that it wouldn't last, because I knew Kape was only safe as long as she remained dormant."

"But then we found her," Leo said. "We dug her up."

"And then the chaos started to close in," Jay sighed, "as it always does. And now here we are, faced with defending against one of the most powerful and fearsome monsters in the universe."

"What can you tell us about him," Leo asked, his mind already plotting out possible attack strategies. "How do we fight against him?"

"In all honesty," Jay said, turning to him. "You guys don't stand a chance. He's a warlord that left the planet he conquered in search of more power. He'd been fighting to the death his whole life. Strength is the only thing that matters to him. Seeing as how we had that much trouble taking on a single Tagoo Commander, none of us would last a minute against Kentoki. He's a monster."

"Well that's reassuring," Raph rolled his eyes.

"What about the mech we got?" Donnie asked. "That's got to be able to do _something_ , right?"

"Against Kentoki?" Jay said skeptically. "Not a chance. You'd be lucky is you're able to take on another Commander."

"What do you propose we do then?" Leo asked, crossing his arms in frustration.

"Kentoki will most definitely bring more Tagoos. You seem to capable of handling them, so you guys can concentrate of taking out the minions."

"Meaning you won't be joining us?" Donnie asked.

"Meaning," Jay clarified, "That me and April won't be joining you."

"Me?" April asked in surprise.

"Well, you, Hyper and Kape merged together." The others passed looks around between themselves.

"You mean, like, freaky golden April?" Mikey asked.

"Yes," Jay said. "Only the full power of a Shard will stand a chance against Kentoki. But in order for Kape to wield her power, she needs to merge with a compatible vessel and use the body as a conduit. In fact, it was Kape trying to merge with April that allowed Hyper to steal a fragment of the Shard's power in the first place."

"What do you mean?" April asked, remembering the day when she first touched the weird rock that seemed to call out to her.

"The process of merging is delicate," Jay explained. "It's usually accomplished with the Guardian guiding the Shard into the compatible's mind where they merge and join together. This is similar to what April and Hyper have managed to do, but to a lesser extent. Kape is able to take control of the body and harness Light's power. But when the merge is attempted without a Guardian, the Shard becomes vulnerable to attacks like the one carried out by Hyper." He paused and glanced down at the Shard that had started glowing again, before muttering, "I don't care about the odds, it still happened." The Shard's glow flickered before dimming again.

"Alright," Leo said, getting them back on track. "So after merging, April will be able to take on Kentoki?"

"Guardian and Shard fighting together as one is a force to be reckoned with. You all draw the Tagoos fire while we deal with Kentoki. One way or another, this all ends tomorrow, and there's no way in hell that Kentoki is getting his hands on my Shard."

 **Oo-oO**

"I know, I know," Jay said. "I'm sorry I didn't call sooner, but I lost track of time. I told you I was hanging out with some friends . . . I'm letting you know _now._ And I'm spending the night . . . It's fine, mom . . . Yeah, they're good people . . . From school, we're in calculus and biology together . . . Thanks, mom . . . I'll come home tomorrow morning, but we made plans to go hang out some more . . . Yeah, I know . . . Yes . . . _Yes_ . . . _Mom_! . . . I know, I love you too . . . I'll see you tomorrow. Bye"

He hung up the phone and sunk to the ground, his back against the old subway tunnel and the Shard in his lap. It was late, and the others were getting some rest.

 _So you've got a family again,_ Kape said in his mind.

"Yeah," Jay said, aloud. "Pretty sure I mentioned that earlier."

 _Show me,_ Kape urged.

Jay closed his eyes and cupped the Shard with his hands. He focussed and sent his thoughts and memories into the Shard. He showed her his mother and father, loving and supportive, his little sister, annoying and adorable and impossible to ignore. He showed memories of his life on Earth, of the friends he never truly connected with, the girls who tried to talk to him, and the feeling that this wasn't going to last forever. He knew that the Shard would awaken one day and this life would cease to exist.

 _Do you wish that you'd never found me?_ Kape asked, feeling responsible for her Guardian's loneliness.

"Sometimes I think about what would have happened if I didn't," Jay confessed. "But I have never regretted pulling you out of the river."

 _What about Selpa? Do you miss her?_

Jay was quiet a moment before answering, "Every day."

 _Is that why you wouldn't go out with those other girls?_

"How can I look at another woman when she's is thousands of light years away?"

 _Because you're probably never going to see her again._

"Doesn't mean I'll stop loving her."

 _And the other Guardians? Do you think their looking for us?_

"I'm sure they are. But I don't know if they know even where to start. The Hyper Vacuum sent us far into the past, into a secluded galaxy that is hard pressed to find."

 _So what hope is there that Light will come?_

"Don't you believe in your sisters? Don't you believe in yourself?"

 _I believe they'll find us. I'm just not sure if I can believe they will find us before it's too late. You're fooling yourself if you think that me merging with April will be enough to take on Kentoki. Maybe if you had some of your gear, but not like this. You talk a good game, but we don't stand a chance. It's why we've always ran in the past. We're not strong enough to fight that Monster._

"But we're not alone now," Jay consoled her. "We have help."

 _You really think they can help? They're a bunch of kids! You do know that Kentoki will bring more than one battalion, right? I say a minimum of three. That's fifteen squadrons and three Commanders in mechs. Admit it, this is hopeless._

"Don't sell these guys short. I believe Leonardo has a plan that could help deal with the Tagoos, and the others are more than capable of taking out a few dozen—"

 _Hundred._

"—a few hundred Tagoos. You know, they've taken on the Kraang before. There were a lot of them too."

 _Oo, nasty little buggars._

"Right? We can trust them, so we need to make sure that they can trust us."

 _What do we do?_

"First," Jay said standing up again, "we see what we're up against."

 **Oo-oO**

"What are you guys doing?" Leo asked the next morning as he walked into Donnie's lab to see Jay seated at Don's computer with Donnie standing behind him. The Shard was sitting beside the machine with what looked like a cable duck-taped to it.

"Hacking into satellites," Jay replied as he tapped away at the computer. "The ones the government likes to say don't exist." Donnie barely gave Leo a glance before his eyes were glued to the screen again, trying to follow the rush of numbers and code dancing across the screen.

"We can do that?" Leo asked rounding the desk to take a look for himself.

"Well, Kape can," Jay said. "We hooked her up to Don's computer and let her loose in the network. She's feeding us information on all incoming signals from space."

"What's that supposed to do?" Leo asked.

"Hopefully give us an idea of the size of army that Kentoki is bringing with him," Jay replied as smiled as a screen popped up. "Here we go," Jay sat back and inspected the map. "This green dot here is Earth," Jay pointed to the center of the screen. "These other dots are the planets in our solar system," Jay indicated the other colour dots on the screen. "But zooming out more, you can see these blips here," he indicated a couple of triangles that blinked and constantly traveled closer to the green dot at the center of the screen, "these are gonna be Kentoki's ships. Looks like five ships. One would be Kentoki's private cruiser and the other four would house a battalion each. That's four battalions." Jay huffed out a breath and racked a hand through his hair.

"I take it that's bad," Leo grimaced.

"Last night we faced _one_ battalion," Jay said, his eyes following the blips on the screen. "And that was spread out over the night. This will be four battalions at once. That's four Commanders and twenty squadrons, that's about three hundred Tagoos!"  
"How are we supposed to fight off that many?!" Donnie exclaimed.

"If only we had an army of our own here in New York," Jay said as he tried to work out a strategy.

"Hold on," Leo said with a mischievous grin. "Maybe we do."

* * *

 **A/N** : Leo's got a plan. It's gonna be epic and you should leave a review, helps me write faster.


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N:** Wow, so I just realized that it's almost been a month since I last updated. And I thought that since school was out I'd be writing more. Sorry.

* * *

Chapter 13

"I'm home," Jay called as he walked into his apartment later the next morning. He'd made the trip topside alone, opting to leave the Shard in the protective custody of the turtles, where Kape could help Donatello with preparations for the upcoming battle, thought she was loath to be separated from her Guardian after finally being reunited.

"Jay Cogen," a woman with long dark hair pulled into a tangled pony tail called as she stomped into the room.

"Oooo, you're in trouble," a girl about twelve with the same dark hair taunted from the doorway of her room. Jay glared at his sister who ducked back into her room and closed the door, but he knew she would be listening closely.

"Hi, mom," Jay said as the woman in question stood before him.

"Do you have any idea how worried I was?" she demanded before throwing her arms around her son.

"Sorry mom," Jay said returning the hug. "I should have called sooner."

"And next time you decide to stay out, you will," she pulled away with her hands on her hips and a stern look on her face. But the frown broke into a smile as she took in her son. "So how was it? You're finally making friends?"

"Finally?"

"It's just, you never seemed to get too close to any other kids your age before."

"So?"

"So . . ." she ruffled his hair, "I think you're starting to grow up."

"Seriously?" Jay asked flattening out his hair again. "I'm not turning ten, mom."

"Get cleaned up," she replied with a wave of her hand as she walked into the kitchen. "I've got some breakfast for you before you head out again."

Without another word, Jay slipped into his room and closed the door. The space was small and cluttered, and should really be cleaned, but he had more important things on his mind.

He dumped his backpack onto the ground, adding to the mess and opened his closet. He shuffled around boxes until he found the one he was looking for at the very bottom where he hid it. He dragged it out and placed it on his bed, but the creaking of the door opening made him freeze, then spin around to confront the intruder.

"Sarah!" Jay exclaimed as he spied the set of eyes peering through the doorway. "Go away!"

"Oh, come on," his sister chided as she slipped into his room and taunted, "You got in trouble."

"I did not," Jay said, turning his back to her.

"Did too," she inspected him closely. "So what were you doing out so late?"

"Fighting aliens," Jay admitted, rolling his eyes.

Sarah scoffed. "Yeah right. Seriously, what were you doing? Are these new friends of yours in a gang or something? Drugs? Or were you out at a bar or something?"

"No, don't be a brat."

"Then what were you doing?"

"Like I'm gonna tell _you_."

"If you don't, I'm gonna tell mom you were out getting drunk."

"Like she'd believe that," Jay sighed. "I was just sleeping over at a friend's house."

"Friend got a name?"

"You won't know him. Why do you care?"

"Can't I be worried about who my dear brother spends his time with?"

"You could, but you don't."  
"True. . . so who is he."

Jay shook his head before shoving her out and slamming the door.

"Hey!"

 _Why are sisters do annoying?_ Jay wondered as a sense of fondness enveloped him. He turned his attention back to the box he'd fished out of his closet and the fondness became sombre. _If only it didn't have to end . . ._

With hesitant hands, he lifted the lid off the box and inspected the objects that had stayed with him for as long as he could remember.

Lying on a ragged blanket, covered in dust, sat a cylinder of metal with a hand grip and a pair of fingerless gauntlets with tubes running along them that connecting at the palms. The only items that survived the passage through the Hyper Vacuum, the ones that he'd never had to use since he jumped. But the time had come to fight. It was time he took up arms and fought to protect the balance of the universe. The balance of Light and Dark.

At the same time, he couldn't help but thing that this was the last time he'd ever see his family.

"Jay!" his mother called. "Your breakfast is ready!"

 **Oo-oO**

The day of planning and preparation passed too quickly and before they knew it, the sun had vanished. The night was brisk and the sky was clouded, leaving a damp haze around the empty street where the group of defenders had chosen as their battle ground. April O'Neil adjusted the belt of the sac tied around her waist that held the Shard. She could feel the warmth as Kape began charging her power that they would need to maintain their merged form, retreating deep within herself until she was needed.

"You ready for this?" Jay asked, coming up behind April. He adjusted the weird fingerless gauntlets that he had retrieved from his home along with the length of metal that was strapped to his belt, his weapons for the upcoming battle. They were the only ones on the roof while the Turtles and Casey made sure their army was in place.

"As ready as I'll ever be," April sighed, looking up at the clouds in the night sky. "How strong is this Kentoki really? You've gone up against him before, right?"

"Yeah," Jay remembered. "He's strong. A monster, really. Many believe that only the full power of Light will be able to defeat him, but I think we'll be able to hold out own." He eyes grew distant before muttering, "As long as you can hold him back long enough."

"Long enough for what?" April asked, turning to him.

He started, realizing that he'd said it aloud. "Oh, nothing," he covered lamely, settling to stare up into the night sky, as if looking for something he wasn't sure was there. April was about to confront him about what was bothering him, but he suddenly turned back to her. "Listen, April, if anything happens, can you look after Kape?"

"What do you mean," April said, taken off guard. "What's going to happen?"

"No, nothing," Jay shook his head, before looking back out to the skyline. "It's just nice knowing that I'm not alone this time around. If anything happens to me, Kape'll be safe."

"Nothing's going to happen to you," April said "You said so yourself, a Guardian and his Shard are nearly unbeatable." She watched as Jay smiled sadly and his eyes grew distant, as if seeing something that wasn't there, and she started to get a bad feeling about the upcoming battle.

"How do you think they're doing in there?" Jay asked, examining cracked stained glass of the old cathedral on the opposite side of the street.

"The guys will be fine," April said. "They've broken into this place more times then I can count. All they have to do is lure everyone out and we'll have our army."

"You say that like drawing out robot ninjas and mutant monsters is easy."

"When it's the Turtles you're talking about, they can bait out just about anyone, especially the Foot."

Even as she said this, a commotion erupted within the building. Flashes of light lit up the cracked windows as the fireworks went off and the clash of metal could be heard over the roars and curses of various monstrous voices as their friends drew the attention of their soon to be army.

"Here they come," Jay grinned as the skirmish spilled out into the street. April fixed her gaze on the front door of the Foot Headquarters and watched as the Turtles and Casey ran out, chased by the Shredder's forces, taunting them as mutants and Foot Bots surrounded them.

"Come and get it, Fish Face."

"You're losing your touch, Rahzar."

"Eat it, bot-head!"

"Here, kitty-kitty-kitty."

April smiled as everything fell into place and their army flooded the streets. Those present included Tiger Claw, Fish Face, Bebop and Rocksteady, Rahzar and even Stockman showed up, along with the Foot Bots. The turn out made for more than an adequate army to face the Tagoo battalions.

"Alright," Jay said, glancing at his watch that was counting down the seconds until the Kentoki's fleet came in range, "In four . . . three . . . two . . ." He held a palm up to the sky and let out a huge pulse of electricity that cracked loudly in the night sky. The assembled army on the ground faltered at the sudden change in weather and the Turtles and Casey took their chance to slip out of sight and get into position.

"What is this?" April heard Tiger Claw roar as he noticed that their prey had escaped. "No!"

But his rage was cut off by the dozens of pillars of light that suddenly filled the street. One by one, entire squadrons of Tagoos appeared from the beams of light, drawn to the surge of electricity, and chaos erupted.

The Tagoos took one look at Foot Clan in front of them and charged into battle. The angry clicking of the Tagoos mixed with the whirring of Foot Bots and the clash of metal echoed in the night air. The mutant fighters took up arms, not knowing what was going on, but realizing that the new aliens in front of them were not friendly.

Jay kept count of the number of squadrons as they teleported from their ships from his perch on the roof, once he reached twenty, he sent out another pulse of electricity to signal Leonardo that the Commanders were coming next. Even as the new flash faded, leaving spots in everyone's eyes, four more beams of light, larger than the others, appeared. From these new pillars of light, the four Commanders appeared armed in full battle armour.

The mechs powered up and took a step forward, even as the Foot clan took a step back. Encouraged by the hesitation their opponents had shown, the Tagoos clicked in excitement and renewed their efforts.

Then all at once, the plan went into action.

 **Oo-oO**

** _Earlier that day**_

"We have four battalions heading our way," Jay explained to the group. "Kentoki will send down his army to try and flush us out before he comes in himself. Once he does, April and I will lure him onto the roof tops and take care of him away from the main fight. In the mean time, we need you guys to hold off the Tagoos."

"We'll lure out the Shredder's forces and use them as a distraction," Leo took over. "They can take care of the hords of small fries while we focus on the Commanders."

"You mean there's more of those guys?" Mikey whined.

"Four battalions, four Commanders," Jay said. "But we've found a way to take them down. Donnie?"

"Right," Donnie jumped up and walked to the mech they had dragged back to the lair. "From analyzing the mech from last night, we've managed to pin point two main weak points. There's a small plate between the mech's legs that, when damaged, should cause the lower half of the mech to lose power." Donnie tapped the indicated panel on the mech. "The explosive I was testing should do the trick. I've made some more, but don't go wasting them."

"Nut shot, alright!" Casey fist pumped the air.

Donnie rolled his eyes and continued. "While the mech won't be able to move its legs, it can still shoot. We'll need to get in close and use the Photon Blades that Kape helped me design to destroy the main power circuit, located at the base of the cockpit on its back." Once again, Donnie pointed out the spot. "Once the circuit is blown, the mech loses all power and the Commander's trapped inside."

"Photon Blade?" Mikey perked up.

"A makeshift version of it, at least," Jay said. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a length of metal with a sort of grip on the end. Grasping the grip, he held it like a sword and after a moment, a beam of yellow light jutted out just in the shape of a blade, earning awed looks all around. "It's one of the only weapons that made it through the Hyper Vacuum. Pretty much like a sword made out of a laser. By salvaging parts from the mech we recovered, we should be able to make two more. They'll be powerful enough to cut through the power circuits defensive armour, but they won't be as strong as this one. The power supply will also be limited, so only use it when going for the kill shot. If it runs out of power before you finish off all the Commanders, then you'll have to find another way to deal with them on the spot."

Mikey was practically bouncing with excitement as Jay retracted his Photon Blade and Donnie decided to set things straight before he lost control of the situation. "Mikey does _not_ get a Photon Blade."

"What!?" Mikey exclaimed, while April and Raph looked relieved.

Leo nodded in agreement and took over again, "Casey, Mikey and Donnie will stay further back and take out the first panel from a distance with the explosives. Once the mechs are immobilized, Raph and I will take out the second panel and shut off the power with the Photon Blades."

 **Oo-oO**

** _Present Time**_

The first two bombs landed a direct hit, catching the Commanders off guard. April could make out Casey in the cover of an alley twirling his hockey stick and lining up for the next clear shot. Mikey was on top of a low roof, with his water balloon launcher attached to a nearby pole and Donnie holding the other end steady.

The giant mushroom clouds reached for the sky and the shockwave ripped through the battle before the smoke cleared away. The two mechs came crashing to the ground as their leg units failed, their groin area still smoking.

Two solid beams of yellow light flashed through the smoke as Leo and Raph drove their make shift Photon Blades into the main power circuit of each downed mech. The fighting grew quiet as Raph and Leo pulled out their blades, creating a shower of sparks that rained down on their enemies. The Commanders inside the machines frantically tried to get something to work, but soon everything went dark as the power circuit sputtered its last bit of life and the mechs grew still.

The yellow glow of the Photon Blades cast an eerie light over Leo and Raph as they inspected the damage, satisfied that their method was effective. Then, all at once, the battle resumed with a new heat as the Tagoos overcame their surprise and surged forward, into the ranks of Foot Bots.

"Turtles!" they heard Tiger Claw roar over the sound of crackling batons and whirring machinery.

Leo and Raph smirked at eachother before retracting the Photon Blades to conserve power and drew their own weapons.

"Two down . . ." Leo said as he jumped into the fray.

"Two to go," Raph finished as he drew his sais and barreled into a mass of Tagoo and Foot Bots.

 **Oo-Oo**

Up on the rooftop, April glowed yellow as she finished merging with the Shard, yellow tendrils circling closely. She sent out a steady pulse of energy; a signal and challenge to the Monster to come and fight. April could feel Kape's anxiety over the upcoming battle through their connection and she recalled Jay's words only moments before.

" _If anything happens, can you look after Kape?"_

 _"Nothing's going to happen. You said so yourself, a Guardian and his Shard are nearly unbeatable."_

April couldn't shake the feeling that Jay wasn't telling her something. Then again, she'd only known him for a few days . . . a long few days, but it didn't stop the sense of foreboding that she held for the battle against the Monster.

 _I agree with you_ , Hyper had said the previous night. _He's shielding his emotions well, but I'm picking up some vibes. He's worried about something._

 _Any idea what?_ April had asked, confidant in Hyper's psychic abilities.

 _Well the fight, obviously._ Hyper replied. _But it's not the outcome, that's for sure. We're going to win, that much he's certain of._

 _Then what's there to worry about?_ April wondered.

 _Probably_ how _we're going to win._ Hyper responded. _I've got a feeling we're not gonna like what he's got planned._

At her counterpart's words, the deep set of foreboding had taken hold of April and had yet to fade.

She was brought back to the present by the explosions in the street. The first two Commanders went down before they even knew what hit them. She watched Leo and Raph sheath their Photon Blades and drew their weapons before springing into battle, while Mikey and Casey waited for the next clear shot at the remaining mechs.

Meanwhile, the Foot Clan fought their own battles. All over the street, Foot Bots clashed with Tagoos. More often than not, the Tagoos managed to beat the Bots, but the mutant presence evened out the score. She watched as Rocksteady charged through a mob of aliens, leaving a clear trail behind him. Bebop phased in and out of sight as he sang his taunts and blasted batons out of hands. Rahzar and Tiger Claw ripped through their opponents while Fish Face stomped his into the ground. Stalkman hovered over the battle, periodically swooping down to steal a blaster or drop something on another's head, all the while dodging the blaster fire from the grouns.

The two remaining Commanders had zeroed in on Donnie, Mikey and Casey, and kept an eye of Leo and Raph, who had retreated from the main. They wouldn't be caught off guard like their companions.

Caught up in the moment, April was taken off guard by the ominous presence that suddenly enveloped the roof top. She felt Kape take control just as another beam of light illuminated the roof top in front of them, teleporting something much more powerful than Tagoos or Commanders.

From the beam of light, a silhouette started to take form. She made out a large figure, at least eight feet tall, with giant, rippling muscles. As the light faded she made out more details. He had long fleshy clumps of tentacles in a ring around his head that resembled hair, a large square jaw with long, sharp, white teeth. His eyes were small, and darted around, taking in everything. His arms bulged with muscles so big that April thought she wouldn't even be able to wrap her own arms around his biceps fully. He was dressed in an armour that rivaled the Shredders; spikes jutted out in unnecessary places, and gleamed as dully as his Tagoo soldiers'. He had what appeared to be swords strapped to each hip and a long hammer like weapon strapped diagonally across his back.

The surge of power that radiated from him was immense, and if April wasn't merged with the Shard, she knew she would have been overwhelmed by the sheer awesomeness of it. April felt the fear of this creature start to build in her consciousness.

This was the Monster that abandoned the planet he had dominated in search of power. This was the war lord that chased the Shards around the universe. This was the threat that she now faced.

This was Kentoki.

* * *

 **A/N:** Enter Kentoki. The fight starts next. Stay tuned, shouldn't be long (hopefully this time that will be true :P)


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

April took in the sight of the Monster standing before her and a pit settled in her stomach. But her fear was overcome by the feelings of rage melting through her connection to the Shard. Kape was ready for a fight. Screw the odds, this Monster was going to feel the wrath of Light, and nothing was going to stop her. April let Kape take full control and sat back to watch the battle.

Kentoki gazed around the rooftop, briefly examining the two humans before him. The sounds of battle below drew his attention. He took in the sight of his forces being taken down and the two defeated Commanders before starting to laugh.

"You have planned well for this battle," he complimented as he turned his sharp gaze on Jay. "Your army of primitive robots and twisted beasts seem to stand a chance against my hoards of Tagoo soldiers. But that battle is of no consequence. I will simply obtain the Shard and wipe them all out in an instant."

"As if I'd give my power over to you," Kape's voice came from April's mouth.

The Monster then examined her with a smile. "It seems as if your Shard has found a compatible host. What a pleasant surprise. And it's the female we detected, no less. It seems that this _will_ be interesting after all. I do hope you put up more of a fight than the last time we met."

Kentoki grasped the hilt of one of the swords at his hip and drew the blade slowly. The grating of metal on rusted metal screeched over the sound of battle below until the supposed blade came free of its scabbard. But it wasn't a sword, it was a long pole about four feet long made of a metal even dirtier than his armour.  
Jay tensed as he recognized the weapon and he powered up his gauntlets, the glass tubes along the back of the hand filling with electricity, and he unhooked the short metal pole from his belt.

"Don't worry," Jay said evenly as he felt the tingle in his hands as he gathered a charge. "I have to intention of running this time."

Kape also fell into a stance, with her tendrils swirling around her body for defence and while others swarmed her hands, ready for offence.

The Monster smirked at their stances as they prepared to fight. "This shall be a battle to be remembered," he grinned as he activated his weapon, "or perhaps not." In an instant, the length of the pole erupted in a blood red, liquid fire; the Blood Saber.

Jay activated his Photon Blade, and crouched in anticipation of the first move.

Kentoki moved first, lunging forward at an impossible speed, but Jay rushed forward to meet him in the center of the roof. Their blades clashed as red fire screamed against yellow electricity. Kentoki was a good two feet taller and out matched the gangly teenager in strength ten times over. Jay was easily knocked back, his Photon Blade swinging upward as he fought to regain his footing and keep hold of his weapon.

Kentoki swung his Blood Saber parallel to the ground towards the boy's unprotected stomach, but Kape's yellow tendrils caught the blade inches before it hit. Jay's palm glowed yellow as his gauntlet charged before shooting a beam of condensed electricity at Kentoki's abdomen. Quicker than the eye could follow, Kentoki drew his other blade half way out of its sheath and another beam of liquid fire absorbed the attack. With a jerk, Kentoki drew the second blade the rest of the way out and swung it downwards, but Jay had regained his footing and slashed it aside with his Photon Blade.

Strings of light darted around Jay and shot towards Kentoki as Kape took the distraction to launch her own attack. It was sudden and unexpected. A few tendrils made it through the Monster's defenses, some bouncing off the dirty armour protecting his chest, some managing to pierce the thick flesh through the chinks in the armour at his shoulder, and one even managed to slice off a tentacle of hair. Kentoki jumped back before twirling his blades to fend off the rest of the strings, giving Jay some breathing room to regain his stance and prepare for the next move.

The barrage stopped and Kentoki grimaced as a colourless blood dripped out of the tentacle that was severed. But as quickly as it was lost, the flesh grew back, knitting back into the Monster's semblance of a perfect head of hair.

There was a moment of silence as the two sides remained still, waiting for who would make the next move.

 _He underestimates us,_ Kape whispered into Jay's head. _He never expected there to be two of us to fight. He doesn't know what to expect._

 _Don't get over confident,_ Jay scolded. _Even with the two of us, this isn't going to be easy._

Kentoki seemed to realize their distraction and launched his next attack. Sheathing the Blood Saber in his right hand, he reached back and grasped the hilt of the hammer strapped to his back and swung it around towards Kape before a round of foot long, razor sharp pegs made of more blood red flames flew toward the distracted Shard. The tendrils swirling around her out of instinct and knit into a shield that vaporized the deadly projectiles as they came into contact with the pure energy.

Jay had seen the hammer-like weapon before, but Kentoki had never gotten the chance to use it in their previous battle. He hadn't needed to. Jay was no match for him alone. But he now saw that he was wrong in his assumption. The long weapon on the Monster's back wasn't a giant hammer, but a sort of gun that harnesses his energy like his flame blades into long deadly bullets.

 _Kape can handle it,_ Jay thought, seeing as her shield vaporized every bullet and charged his gauntlets for his own long ranged attack. Clipping his Photon Blade back onto his belt, he pointed both palms at his enemy and let loose a series of quick, high speed shots of electricity, hoping to catch Kentoki off guard. With only one Blood Saber drawn to block the new barrage of projectiles, he was unable to block them all. But unlike Kape's tendrils, when Jay's electric bullets slammed into Kentoki's metal armour, the charge clung to the conductive surface before jumping into Kentoki's body, leaving trails of smoke rising from where it burned the flesh and electrocuted him.

The Monster grunted as he took on damage, but the Blood Saber was up in an instant. It deflected most of the electric bullets, and he managed to dodge most of the others. But a stray shot still broke through every now and then. The shock he received was powerful, but not enough to seriously wound a battle hardened war lord like Kentoki.

Jay's gauntlets ran out of juice and he drew his Photon Blade again to let them re-charge. During Jay's attack, Kape hadn't been idle. From where Kentoki was standing, her strings erupted from the ground around his feet from where she tunneled through the roof's concrete, piercing his exposed legs and caving in the portion of the roof where he stood.

The Monster jumped back as he saw the ground crumbling, but his injured legs couldn't quite support him and he stumbled for a moment. His colourless blood wet the chunks of roof that fell into the building as he lost his balance momentarily. Jay took the opening and was in front of him again in an instant, driving his Photon Blade toward the Monster's throat, but the Blood Saber knock it away. Jay's free hand came up glowing yellow as his gauntlet finished charging. He pointed it at Kentoki's exposed chest and landed an electric pulse with the power of a full charge.

Jay leapt back as the Monster roared in pain, the full charge being much stronger than the smaller pulses that landed before. The dirty metal chest plate smoked and distorted from the heat of the blast, but it didn't crack or break. Jay crouched in anticipation as Kentoki straightened up once again, his sharp teeth clenched in anger and his fist clenching his blade. Despite the direct hit, the pulse only seemed to have stunned the Monster, and the wounds Kape had inflicted on his legs had already healed, leaving only the crusty clear blood still sticking to his skin. He showed no further signs of pain from the blow he had just taken.

"Not bad, _boy_ ," Kentoki growled before smiling sadistically. "It's been a long time since I've ever had to fight someone seriously."

 _Great,_ Jay thought, _he's not even serious yet._ He had been right; there's no way to take down this Monster without Light.

He had to do it.

He felt a sense of regret as he came to this conclusion. But it made no difference. He would do it, and pray that reinforcements aren't too late.

 **Oo-oO**

The appearance of the larger transport beam on the roof of the building where April and Jay were, had the battle in the streets pausing for a moment. The final boss had arrived.

Leo clutched his katana tighter, wishing it was him up there instead of dealing with the small fries in the street. It was frustrating, but he would play his part because the presence of their leader seemed to invigorate the Tagoos and they clicked in excitement and renewed strength. They surged forward against the Foot Bots with new force, with more bots than aliens falling than before.

The remaining Commanders were also proving to be harder to take down without the element of surprise on their side. Even as the battle cries rang out louder than before, the two remaining mechs started targeting Mikey and Casey, forcing Leo and Raph to draw the mechs' attention away from their snippers while luring them into a position where Mike and Case could get a clear shot at the Nut Pannel, as Casey had taken to calling it.

"Woah!" Mikey yelled as one of the mech's shot a beam at him and he dove out of the way. Leo threw a smoke bomb at the cockpit, causing the mech to stumble back from lack of vision.

"Find cover!" Leo told Donnie and Mikey as he landed on the same roof as them. They nodded and melted into the shadows before darting to another rooftop that was easier to defend from.

The purple smoke cleared away and the mech turned to face Leo. From on top of the roof, they nearly came face to face and Leo could make out the sneer the commanding Tagoo had before he launched himself off the roof with a yell, aiming his katana for the Commander. Although his sword wasn't able to pierce the cockpit of the mech, the sight of an alien turtle with sharp blades barreling towards him made the Commander falter for a second. The mech fell to defend and raised a hand to swat Leo down when the force of an explosion rocked the air. The shock wave hit Leo and knocked the wind out of him. He slammed into the mech even as the leg units lost all power and they both crashed to the ground.

"Yeah boyee!" Leo heard Mikey cry out through ringing ears as he and Donnie high-threed. They managed to get into position and fire an explosive right at the Nut Pannel. It was the cleanest shot you'd ever see, but it wasn't down yet. The main power circuit still had to be destroyed.

Leo managed to stand up and was grasping for his Photon Blade when a growl had him instinctively ducking and diving off the mech as Tiger Claw fired his blasters at him.

"Turtle!" Tiger Claw roared as Leo landed in front of him and they faced off. Leo kept his grip on the Photon Blade and drew a katana in the other hand. A creak of metal had him glancing back, the mech already figuring out which circuits were still connected and what was still operational. He had to finish it off before it started shooting again.

But Tiger Claw didn't give him a chance. The beast charged forward, shoot with one gun while drawing his blade with the other. Leo crouched low and weaved around the shots, the two clashing in the middle.

"What is the meaning of this?" Tiger Claw demanded and their blades locked in a standoff.

"Alien invasion," Leo grinned slyly, "you know, the usual."

"What aim do you have in dragging the Foot into this?" Tiger Claw asked as he pushed Leo back and took a few more shots. Leo cartwheeled to the side, spying the mech as it started to move an arm. "Did you think that we would help you defeat one of your enemies? We've teamed up with extraterrestrials before. What makes this time any different?"

"How about a language barrier?" Leo smirked even as a brave group of Tagoos appeared behind Tiger Claw, clicked their declaration of war and charged. "Have fun negotiating with someone who can't understand you!"

Tiger Claw growled at the new opponents and turned to face them. The Tagoos swarmed around Tiger Claw and Leo took the opportunity to back away, which turned to a strange diving twirl as he jumped out of the way of the Commander's canon fire. The resulting blast scattered the Tagoos and drove Tiger Claw back farther. Leo tucked, rolled and sprung back up onto his feet running even as the Commander lined up the next shot.

The Commander kept up a continuous stream of fire as he chased Leo around the empty street and effectively trapped him behind mailbox that was taking the beating of its life. While keeping up the barrage, another larger blaster swiveled into position, aimed at the mailbox that stood between Leo and destruction. Leo's movements were sealed and the threat of a more powerful attack wasn't helping any as the bigger canon began to glow. But he wasn't in this alone.

"Booyakasha!"

Mikey and Donnie came flying, knocking the canons off course and giving Leo the opening he needed to get moving again. He made a bee-line towards the neck of the mech where the main power circuit would be located when another explosion shook the street and the area filled with smoke again.

"Nut shot!" Casey yelled from the other side of road as the other Commander came crashing down on top of the first in a crushing pile of smoking metal and machinery.

"My turn!" Raph called out as he descended into the smoking cloud that was only just starting to dissipate. The Photon Blade glowed in the smoke like a beacon of destruction as it slashed at the power circuit. A rain of sparks sprayed from the frayed panel mixing with the deadly glow of the Photon Blade as it slashed at the mech again and again. The smoke from the explosion finally blew away, revealing a grinning Raphael carrying a still sparking piece of the main power circuit in one hand.

He took a look at Leo, then glanced back at the only remaining Commander, who was struggling to maneuver the arm units to push off his downed partner. "You're not done yet?" he asked.

"I was getting to it," Leo sassed back as he powered up his Photon Blade and quickly darted in to slash through the circuit to the final Commander. The flailing arms of the mech jerked to a stand still and the team of fighters gathered in a group in an alley, exchanging banter and slapping hands.

"That was awesome!" Casey exclaimed, "Did you see the way that thing went down?"

"And that explosion?" Raph added. "Donnie, that was better than last time!"  
"Kape helped me supe it up a bit," Donnie grinned cheekily and they slapped hands again.

"Uh, guys," Leo interrupted, "We're still in the middle of a battle."

"You kidding?" Mikey said, "The Foot have got his in the _bag_."

Looking around, Leo realized that it was true. While the Tagoos and the Foot Bots were probably on the same level, the mutants were having no trouble pounding them into the ground.

"I think they can handle it," Raph smirked.

The congratulations were cut off suddenly by a huge pulse of a shockwave followed a red glowing dome of energy on top of the building where April was fighting the big boss with Jay and Kape. They watched as the red glow filled the night and thoughts turned to the battle that was going on not too far away.

"Do you think they're winning?" Mikey ventured as the glow cut out.

Leo tapped his back to reassure him, "I'm sure they'r—"

But his reassurance was cut short by an ear piercing scream of absolute horror that was so loud that it had everyone in the street covering their ears. A cry that could only have come from April.

 **Oo-oO**

 _A few moments earlier_

Kape froze as she took in the sight before her. The red shield of energy that deflected her tendrils, the Blood Saber primed and ready, Jay's Photon Blade in pieces and useless. The Monster had shown his true power and effortlessly destroyed them.

His shield had been the ace up his sleeve. A power barrier able to deflect the power of Light. Kape hadn't even known something like that existed, but it stands to reason that Kentoki hadn't been idle in the time since he'd discovered the Shards. He'd been busy developing ways to more easily capture them, and this was the result. Only now, the shield wasn't being used to keep her trapped within, but to keep her out of the confrontation between the Monster and her Guardian.

Nothing Kape tried was working. She lashed out at the shield with her tendrils, using every bit of energy she had in reserve to hammer away at the defenses, but her power wasn't strong enough on her own. Kentoki watched in sick amusement as Kape lost her cool and screamed in frustration.

Kentoki started to laugh, bellowing out at her helplessness before holding up a sight that would haunt her for centuries to come.

Jay was struggling was the Monster held him by the throat. His Blade was destroyed and he didn't have the energy or concentration to use his gauntlets. There was nothing he could do. Kentoki had baited him in close before creating the shield and trapping him within. It wasn't long until Kentoki managed to rip away his Photon Blade and smash it to pieces. The enclosed space within the barrier was too small for Jay to keep his distance, moving in only when an opening presented itself. He was trapped, and now he was at the mercy of the Monster.

But this Monster had no mercy.

"Did you really think that you had a chance against me in battle?" Kentoki whispered into Jay's ear as pried at the Monster's fingers wrapped around his throat. "You are fighting a losing war. You Guardian brats may have been successful in eluding me in the past, but it's only a matter of time before I catch up. And look at this, I've caught up. This is one down, and six more to go."

"Kentoki!" Kape yelled, as she resorted to throwing her body against the barrier, while punching it with empowered fists of glowing yellow light. The shield would pulse where she hit it, turning a deeper red before fading back to its original colour. "You're not gonna win this!"

Kentoki just laughed. "And who is going to stop me? You?" Kape stopped her barrage and glared at the Monster, pouring all her hatred and rage. The expression only made Kentoki laugh harder, "You are a fragment, a piece of what Light once was. You can do nothing against me. But soon enough, you will be part of me."

"Like hell!" Kape screamed and pounded on the shield again. "That's never going to happen!"

"Perhaps," the Monster tilted his head, weighing his options, "but let's see how you're feeling once I've finished off your precious Guardian."

 _No._

Her mind seemed to freeze up at his taunt, and she knew that he wasn't bluffing. April felt her desperation, which only added to her own. But what could she do?

 _"_ We can help _,"_ Hyper said to her.

"But how?" April asked, spreading her arms out. "This isn't a battle we can keep up with."

"We won't need to," Hyper grinned and April understood.

Together, they channeled their own powers into their shared body, and into Kape. Flickering tendrils of yellow light that swarmed around Kape started to bleed a black as it was tainted with psychic power. All at once, Kape felt the transition to something more powerful and she took full hold of everything she had left and dove it into one single point of the blood red shield.

They connected at the same point, and a crack spider webbed outward before the shield broke apart and the red energy faded.

But not all the red disappeared. Instead of fading, some of it dripped. The red dripped down off the Blood Saber as its point protruded from her Guardian's back, straight through his stomach.


	16. Chapter 15

**A/N:** Two words :FINAL CHAPTER!

* * *

Chapter 15

How does it usually work? A hero is in a desperate situation, overwhelmed by impossible odds, facing an enemy more powerful than him. In order to win, he gets a new weapon, or learns a new technique, even achieves an unexpected power-up mid-battle and uses that to defeat his enemy against all odds. That's what was supposed to happen here. Mixing psychic power with Light was enough to over come Kentoki's shield. They managed to break through, so why had they still lost?

 **Oo-oO**

Drip, drip, drip.

 _What's that? Why is it wet?_ _  
_Drip, drip, drip.

 _Water? Is it raining? No, somehting's dripping . . . and there's wind? It's been awhile since I felt the wind. Why haven't I felt the wind? What was I doing? Oh, that's right. I was in the river. Why was I in the river? I was with Dark and then . . . I shattered? I remember now. I'm broken and I flew into the river. I'm only a piece of what I was. Why aren't I in the river anymore? It was so nice . . . Is that a life form holding me?_

Data Retrieved: Match found. Life form identified as Hunthian, native to the planet Deltra Prone. Species is known to be diverse in physical features and behaviour. End Transmission.

 _I remember the Hunthians. They were so fun, always finding new ways to play. Oh, that's where the dripping's coming from. But why is he wet? Did you jump in to pull me out?_

"I guess I did," the Hunthian said suddenly, scratching his chin with one finger and smiling.

 _Huh? Can you hear me?_

"Well, yeah. You're talking to me, so of course I can hear you."

 _Interesting, not everyone is capable of hearing my minds voice. You have a special gift._

"Oh, I don't know about that," he responded. "My name's Marrow Fog. What about you?"

 _Me?_

He nodded anxiously.

 _Well, I was known as Light, but I'm not quite Light anymore._

"I don't understand."

 _It seems that I'm broken, no longer whole. I new kind of existence._

"So you're Light, but not really Light."

 _Something like that_.

"Then you need a new name," Marrow said proudly.

 _A new name?_

"A new name for a new start," he smiled. "Something unique, like you."

 _Unique, huh?_

"Well, I can honestly say that I've never seen a rock quite as beautiful as you, and that's not even mentioning the fact that you can talk."

 _There are many things that can talk, just not many who can hear them._

"So are there other talking, glowing rocks in this river?"

 _Who knows, anything's possible. Why? Are you going to look for more?_

"Hmm. . ." he scratched his chin again and scrunched up his face in thought. "No. One new friend is enough . . . Oh, I know! Barlekap!"

 _Barle-what?_

"Barlekap. It means friend of faith met by chance in the Ancient Tongue. How's that for a new name?"

 _Barlekap. . . I like it, but it's too long. Make it shorter._

"Then how about Bar?"

 _Naw, too much booze._

"Barrel?"

 _Ehn, getting there. . ._

"Hmm . . . Kap? Kape?"

 _Kape?  
_ "Kape?"

 _Kape._

"Alright, Kape it is. Hello Kape."

 _Hello, Marrow Fog._

Drip, drip, drip.

 **Oo-oO**

Drip, drip, drip.

The river and grasslands disappeared as Kape's memory from long ago faded into the gruesome image before her: her Guardian, her protector, her friend . . . hanging limply on the Monster's blade, his blood dripping off the tip, sizzling in the liquid fire before falling into a bubbling puddle at his feet.

All at once, the Monster withdrew his Saber with a sickening slurp, and Jay fell into the growing pool of his own blood.

"No . . . Marrow," Kape fell to her knees, beside her constant companion. The one person who had always been there with her. The Monster roared with laughter.

"Pathetic," he grinned as he swung his Blood Saber to dislodge the remaining trickles of blood, creating a dark half circle around him; his own bloody halo. "I expected more from one such as he, but I suppose being thrust into such a weak body affected his prowess more than I'd thought."

Kape didn't hear the gloating. She was drained and couldn't comprehend what she was seeing. She gingerly placed a hand on her fallen Guardian, but she felt no life force. He was gone. Jay . . . no, Marrow Fog was dead.

With this, she realized what it was he was he had planned.

" _Don't worry, I've got a plan."_

" _We're not alone this time. Everything will work out."_

" _One day you'll be whole. I'll make sure of that."_

His words bounced around her head and her hands clenched into fists, balling up the fabric of his shirt, now soaked in blood, because he'd planned on dying all along.

 _The death of a Guardian acts as a beacon, drawing the Light towards her fallen ally._

 **Oo-oO**

His body was starting to grow cold when she felt the pulse radiate out from him and disappear into the cosmos, calling out to the Light. She felt the beacon calling, drawing her closer to him. The portal soon opened.

A black spark crackled above Jay's chest as the beacon got a response. The spark grew until dark electricity jumped freely in the air and started to condense into a dark, swirling mass of chaos. A black fog tinged the air around the dark orb as the portal grew in size and intensity.

The Monster took a step back from the phenomenon and snarled as he realized his mistake. He'd known what the death of a Guardian would bring, but his blood lust and overactive battle instincts had been raging and he hadn't thought things through.

But there was still time before Light arrived. He just had to get the Shard. His hand twitched as he eyes the pouch dangling from the girl's belt and lunged forward, but the orb suddenly cracked and a bright white light poured out, flooding the rooftops as three silhouette's dropped out of the chaos, landing protectively in front the Shard and her fallen Guardian.

As the portal closed in on itself, the white light condensed into a mass of molten light. After morphing for a few moments, the mass settled on a form that resembled a human girl, not unlike the golden figure that Kape had taken up.

The light faded and the girl's features became more pronounced, along with her three companions, none of which were human, but one of which resembled the Monster. They were the three Guardian's who had succeeded in finding each other and reuniting their Shard's into what was now an incomplete Light.

"The fractured Light appears," Kentoki snarled them.

"You keep chasing us," Light said, her form shifting slightly as it stabilized, "but you never learn. This is a war that you're never going to win."

"We'll see about that," Kentoki brandished both Blood Sabers and whirled them at Light, moving faster than before.

Light watched the attack approach, and glared at him. "No, we won't."

Just as the Monster bared down on her, Light phased away and the twin Sabers crashed with another Photon Blade that sprang into action and glowed as red as Kentoki's Sabers, but while Kentoki's liquid fire was sluggish and efficient, the new Photon Blade burned fierce and hot with flames that stemmed from its wielder's anger.

"Gengi," the Monster growled as their blades locked in place. "So I find myself face to face with the traitor that started it all. If you hadn't stolen the Red Shard, I would already have all the power I need."

The First Guardian steeled himself and pushed against Kentoki, driving him back a few precious steps. "Your thirst for power would not be sated with only one Shard. You would simply have had an easier time hunting the rest down."

The two kin stood a few feet away from each other, but although they both came from the same planet, they were far from ally's.

"Indeed," Kentoki eyed the others on the roof; the three Guardians who had managed to meet up and allow their Shard's to fuse, a fallen Guardian and the Yellow Shard that had merged with a human female, and Light herself. He smiled slowly, "But even with your numbers, you can not stand against my current power."

"Which is why we're not going to," Gengi said and raised a palm that was equipped with a gauntlet similar to the ones Jay was wearing. Red veins glowed and condensed in the palm where a shaft of concentrated flames blasted toward Kentoki.

The Monster responded by raising his red shield once again and the flames crashed against it before spreading over the surface and sizzling out. "You'll have to do better than that," he grinned as Gengi continued to rain flames on his shield.

"Looks like fun," one of the other Guardian's spoke up, "I wanna try." He had blue skin and long arms with triangle like fins. He also raised both of his palms as his gauntlets glowed blue and a blast of water added to the attack on the shield. The Monster seemed to falter for a moment before redoubling the strength of the shield. It seemed to waver for a moment, but didn't fall. Without a word, the final Guardian, who floated above the ground and sprouted feathers from various regions, also raised his palm, glowing purple before a barrage of sickle like wind blades joined water and fire.

The three Guardians poured their power into the attack, but nothing would penetrate his shield.  
The Monster started laughing inside his bubble of protection, "You see! You cannot defeat me with your pathetic half-powered abilities!"

"Like I said," Gengi smiled, "We're not trying to."

The smile fell from Kentoki's face as Light appeared above the shield, hovering at the point where all three Guardians attacks met. She held out her hands and started whispering in an ancient language. Her form shifted and glowed and the red, blue and purple beams swirled around the shield and collected into a ball of energy at Light's feet.

Her whispering stayed quiet, but her words wove into the fabric of the energy, moulding it into something different. All at once, the whisper stopped with a harsh word and a black spark cracked like lightning from the heavens, striking Light. Her white glow turned black as she channeled the bolt into the mass of her Guardians energy at her feet, black lightning sparking out and encompassed the Monster's shield.

"What is this!" he screamed while trying to maintain his shield. "What are you doing?!"

"Sending you far, far away," Gengi said. "Like you said, we can't beat you with the power we have now. So we'll just make you disappear. By the time you can return to this planet, we'll be long gone, and Light will be one step closer to completion. You lose, Monster."

"No!" Kentoki roared as his shield was dragged into the newly formed portal. "Not again! I will get you brats! I will be all powerf—"

 _POP!_ The portal popped closed and Kentoki was gone, sucked into a chaos of energy to who knows where.

The silence was broken by a sigh of relief. "The next time we see him will be too soon," the Blue Guardian slumped to the ground. The Purple Guardian nodded in agreement.

"Now's not the time," Light said as she appeared in front of them all. The Guardians followed her gaze and lowered their eyes as they took in the state of the Yellow Guardian.

"Damn," Gengi clenched his fist at his side.

Kape had watched the encounter with unseeing eyes, taking everything in but not understanding what was happening. She just sat frozen, his shirt still balled in her hands, silent tears streaking down her face.

Light blinked out of existence and appeared in front of her. "Your fight is done, sister," she said, managing to meet her eyes. "Come home."

Kape looked up into Light's eyes, her own eyes before taking one last look at her Guardian. She managed to unclench on hand and close his eyes. With a final sigh she retreated, the girl's hair fading back to it's original red as yellow veins streaked back into the Shard.

"Oh my God," April O'Neil whispered as she regained her body. She looked around, taking in the scene and her eyes overflowed with tears as she saw Jay's motionless body in front of her.

"You've been through a lot," Light said, drawing her attention. "Thank you for fighting for them."

"I wasn't alone," April said, shaking slightly from emotional and physical exhaustion. "My friends . . ."

"Yes. I know," Light smiled. "You've all been very brave."

April sniffed and looked up at the Light. "What now?"

"With Kentoki gone," Gengi spoke up, "his forces will scatter. The Tagoos aren't so great on their own, and with the Commanders out of commission, great job with that by the way, they don't have any guidance."

"So they're just going to run around the city?" April exclaimed. As if they didn't have enough problems.

"No, Kentoki's second in command should be nearby. He'll recall the Tagoos and start searching for their boss. It shouldn't be too long before they're gone for good," Gengi reassured her.

"What about Jay?" she whispered.

The Red Guardian's eyes fell to his fallen comrade, and realized he had no words.

"We will take him home," Light spoke up, "back to Delta Prone."

"But what about his family _here,_ " April cried out. "He's got parents and a sister. What are they supposed to do when he doesn't . . ." She couldn't finish as she was cut off by her own sobbing, her grief enhanced from the lingering connection she shared with the Shard.

". . . I'm sorry," Light bowed her head and knelt down beside the body. "I should have found him sooner."

 _My fault,_ April heard a faint whisper. _All my fault._

April started slightly as she heard Kape's mental voice from inside the Shard. From the sharp look she got from the ethereal being beside her, she guessed that Light had heard too. April tenderly unhooked the pouch from her belt and took out the Shard, resting the rock that glowed faintly in her lap.

 _If only I'd realized what he was going to do,_ Kape started rambling. _I should have known he would sacrifice himself, it's just the kind of person he is. . . was? What the hell? What now? I. . . I'm—_

 _You're among friends, sister_. Light broke her out of her loop, speaking in their own language of the mind. _What happened is tragic, but you are no longer alone. You don't have to fight alone anymore._

 _I never had to fight alone_ , Kape whimpered. _Marrow was always with me. He always fought for me. Kept me safe. Pulled me out of the river. Talked to me. . . What am I going to do without him?_

 _Re-unite with us,_ Light said, _and you will see that it's not the end of the world. But nor is it the end of the war. No doubt Marrow was one of the first casualties, but definitely not the last. There will be death, for that is the natural way of life. It seems that even Light cannot escape that destiny._

 _Sister . . . I don't want to forget._

 _You won't._ We _won't. He will forever live with us, for we are one. Your memories are mine and your loss is mine. Let us share this burden that you hold, sister._

What April saw next cannot be explained easily. It was as if a flood of videos flew by at Light speed; years of footage taken at the perspective of a Shard. It was dark most of the time when she was inside the Shard, but she could still see. Images of solid objects and mental waves being read, analyzing specs of matter, searching through the Index, and Marrow. Marrow Fog, long before he was Jay.

They were happy on Delta Prone, spending the day discussing various topic, usually going round in circles. Bugging and teasing as Marrow developed feelings for a beautiful girl, how his clumsy movements became smooth and confidant, how his training progressed quickly, how the peaceful times turned chaotic. . . because where the Shard is concerned, chaos is never far behind.

The attack was quick and unexpected. They managed to escape, but only barely and their life on the run began. Different planets, different galaxies, it didn't matter. It never took long before they caught up and the running started again. Then they got cornered and the Monster himself showed up. There was no where to run, and Marrow took a leap of faith, literally, and dove into the Hyper Vacuum, dove into a new life with a new family and new friends. A new life where he didn't have to run, didn't have to fight, didn't have to look over his shoulder and look after a good for nothing, stupid rock that brought nothing but pain and suffering to her dearest friend. . .

But he never ran. The once sweet, curious, and a little clumsy boy who pulled her out of the river had long since been replaced with a strong, reliable Guardian who wouldn't hesitate to give his life for his Shard.

 _And that's exactly what he did,_ Kape said as the memories drew to a close, recapping everything from the moment Marrow found her to when the portal opened.

"So that's how it is," Light smiled sadly, coming to understand everything. "It is a true sorrow that Marrow Fog has passed. He was a fine Guardian, and a true friend. I wish I could bring your Guardian back, sister, but such miracles are beyond our capabilities."

 _I'm not foolish enough to believe in the impossible,_ Kape admitted.

"Although I cannot work miracles," Light said, with a glint in her eyes, "it may be possible to leave Jay's human family with a parting gift before we depart."

 **Oo-oO**

The homeroom bell rang and the teacher called for attention. After a few minutes, the rowdy teenagers settled down and the day's lesson started. April O'Neil didn't even pretend to take notes as the teacher started the day's lesson. For once, Casey Jones was on time, something he thought she should be impressed about.

First period wore on and April's eyes were glued to the window, as if daydreaming, but in reality, she was going over the previous day's events. It seemed impossible that so much could happen over the span of a few days, and it all started with a rock.

April's attention was pulled back to the present when the teacher stopped talking. She followed the other students' gaze towards the door as Jay Cogen slid into class with a sheepish smile, before silently taking his seat in the back next to Casey exchanging high-fives as he sat down.

 _Although I cannot work miracles_ , _it may be possible to leave Jay's human family with a parting gift before we depart._

Light's words repeated themselves over and over in her head as she remembered what happened next.

Light's form dissolved into what could only be described as solid light and swirled around the Shard. The yellow viens pulsed brightly and rose off the rock and dissolved into the solid light. All too soon, the Shard grew dull and cold as Light shone even brighter.

" _Thank you, April O'Neil,"_ said Light, now four Shard's strong. _"For all you and your friends have done. There is no way to repay you, but perhaps we can repair some of the wrongs we have created."_

The solid Light swarmed around the fallen Guardian, encasing him in a cocoon of pureness.

" _What are you—,"_ April had tried to jump in, but the Blue Guardian held her back.

" _Just watch,"_ he smiled mischievously.

So she did. And when the Light faded, Jay still lay on the roof unmoving. . . until his chest rose. The wound to his mid-section was gone, replaced with ghostly white scare tissue.

" _But how. . ."_ April asked, dumbfounded. _"Is he. . .?"_

" _It's not difficult to heal a wound,"_ the Blue Guardian explained, also looking a little perplexed. _"Especially for someone with Light's power. It's simple a matter to getting cells to divide. . . but it's impossible to bring someone back from the dead. This shouldn't be possible."_

" _It's impossible to retrieve a soul that has left its body,_ " Light's disembodied voice whispered. _"For a body to live, it needs a soul. When he was killed, Marrow's soul left his human body, but there was another soul residing within the body as well."_

" _That's impossible,"_ the Blue Guardian argued. _"It's way too stressful. There's no way to merge another soul into a body that was already occupied."_

" _It seems the Hyper Vacuum managed to do it,"_ Light explained softly.

" _Damn,"_ the Red Guardian whispered.

" _Marrow Fog is dead,"_ Light said with finality, _"but Jay Cogen lives on."_

Jay caught April looking at him from across the room and waved. She came out of her reverie and waved back with a smile. After he'd woken up, Jay didn't have any of Marrow's memories. He knew nothing of Light, Guardian's or Monsters. His electrical powers were non-existent without Kape to power them, and he slipped back into the peaceful life of a high schooler. . . the life Marrow Fog never had a chance to experience.

When he'd returned home, Jay had received a lecture from his mother about staying out so late and how he should make sure to call. His memories from the last few days were muddled, but he didn't seem to pursue them at all. It was for the best.

The teacher finished the lecture and the students shuffled their desks into their clicks. April dragged her desk over to the boys in the back and they opened—April and Jay opened—their textbooks to page 275.

Casey groaned when he saw the workload and promptly collapsed over his desk, burying his face in the thick pages.

"Well," April said to Jay, "at least one of us is good at Calculus."

* * *

 **A/N:** Fin. At long last, the end of Hyper Reality. Big thanks once again to retro mania for pitching the original idea that went out of control, and big thanks to everyone who has read, fav/fol this story.

I can honestly say that this ended exactly where I wanted it to, although the path used to get there changed quite a bit from the original plan. In any case, I think it turned out well, but not as well as I could have made it. It may be possible that in the future I will re-write this, if I ever get around to it.

For those wondering, there will be no sequal to this. Like I said, it ended right where I wanted it to. If you care about what happens to Light and her Guardian's, make it up yourself. Or maybe you'll see them again one day in a bookstore sometime in the future. . . never know.

Keep Reading, Keep Writing, Keep Dreaming.


End file.
